


A Love Worth Lying For

by babychan



Series: For Thee Who Is Most Worthy [1]
Category: Thor (Comics), Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Bestla, F/M, Fenrir - Freeform, Frigga's Good Parenting, Hel - Freeform, Hurt Loki, Kid Fic, Kid Loki, Kid Loki and Kid Thor, Laufey's Good Parenting, M/M, Odin's Good Parenting, Protective Thor, jörmungandr - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-01-21 17:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1558349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babychan/pseuds/babychan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Loki was in his nine hundredth year… he thought himself to be adopted.  Luckily his Granddam was there to ensure that the House of Odin did not remain a den of lies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What is a Lie Anyway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Loki was in his nine hundredth year… he thought himself to be adopted. Luckily his Granddam was there to ensure that the House of Odin did not remain a den of lies

A Love Worth Lying For

 

 by Babychan

 

 

 

 

It started with a lie.

 

Told by Odin.

 

Encouraged by Frigga

 

Which stated a false truth that Loki was a child of both their blood, born at the end of the Great War.

 

Of Course, for the most part that purposely-constructed statement was wholly true.

 

Loki _was_ Odin’s child and blood, for he was born of his seed and nurtured in his love.

 

Loki was also a child of Frigga’s blood, for the queen was a powerful sorceress and she used blood-magic to adopt and forge an uncontestable and permanent parental bond with the babe.

 

But what was not acknowledged is the fact that Loki is also a child, _the only child_ , of Laufey’s womb and he was stolen from Jotunheimr’s Ruler at the height of the War.

 

“W..wait….” Loki sniffed with the most pitiful of sobs as the looked up at his Granddam, “I’m stolen?”  From his cradled position in her arms, he implored the truth with innocent, wet, emerald eyes. “Father said I was abandoned in a temple.”

 

“Loki,” Odin quickly interrupted before his mother could speak. “It is impossible to steal what already belongs to you. You are _my_ son!” He stood up from his place on the settee beside Frigga and determinedly made his way across the vast room toward where his mother and two children were pressed close on a grand and ornately designed chaise.

 

Loki looked from his granddam toward his father then turned away and tucked his face under the former Queen’s chin as he hugged her close.  He did not know what to believe. He only knew that he had two familial Lines even though his mother had none.

 

Odin took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before he prepared his tale. Intellectually, he knew this truth would one-day come to light. Loki was too brilliant and curious a child for them to have been able to keep this secret forever. Still, Odin was not expecting Loki’s reaction to the truth to turn out so dreadfully.

 

Actually, he kind of knew it would be bad.

 

Loki, as Bestla likes to repeatedly state, reminded Odin a lot of himself at that age, a dramatic child. A drama King, so to speak.

 

Therefore, Odin had secretly hoped this particular truth would reveal itself when he was in Odin sleep and Frigga would have to handle it alone.

 

But, sadly, that wish was not to be.

 

As Odin watched his children cry and wipe their tears against his mother’s expensive gown, he regretted taking them to the Vault on the day that started this whole mess.

 

Frigga had warned him not to do it but he thought he knew better.

 

More than that, Odin wanted to talk to them about the importance of keeping the peace and the priority of Familial Brotherhood over all other relationships.

 

Over the last 200 years, the two siblings were discovering separate interests and friends.  Thor was enamored with the traditional way of fighting and was often surrounded by his four companions, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral, who called themselves the Warriors Three even though none had ever set foot in a real battle of War. The last of the group was the young Sif, who gave herself a Knight’s title of “Lady”, since she could not be called a “Sir.”

 

Her mother was not pleased.

 

But the Asgardian Duchess Angeyja could do nothing about it since it was _she_ who demanded the payment of a Wergild and it was _Sif_ who demanded Loki’s place in the King’s Army as the price of her hair.  

 

When the formerly blond child turned smugly to Loki —as if she were given permission to take and keep something cherished from him— it was obvious to all, except Sif, that this was Loki’s plan all along.

 

Odin remembered sliding his gaze down the steps of Hlidskjalf, toward his recalcitrant raven-haired child. The boy stood slighting behind his mother, as he always did, with hands fisted onto her gown, as they always were. However, what Odin noticed most about _this_ set of mother and child was the fact that both were doing a poor job at hiding their elation behind feigned shock.

 

Odin refused to acknowledge what that meant, but mentally conceded that Loki’s behavior was not entirely the fault of his own genetics.

 

Still, the All-Father was not pleased with this proviso even though he quickly agreed to it. In his opinion, women did not belong in the _King’s Army_.  Nevertheless, he allowed it because he knew that the Duchess, who almost had a heart attack after realizing her desires for her daughter were usurped, by said daughter, wanted the price for Sif’s hair to be paid with Thor’s hand in marriage. She wanted Sif to one-day reign as Queen of Asgard so she could lord her child’s union over the other eight of her husband’s wives.

 

Sif, who actually did have a budding affection for Thor, realized that she passed up the chance to be Queen too late, but even so, the self proclaimed Goddess of War rarely regretted her decision.

 

Loki was now trained in the Art of War by his mother, Queen of Asgard, Commander of the Valkyries and Master of the Arts of Seidhr.

 

Surprisingly, it was while training with the Valkyries, did Loki find his own friends. Like him, they were part of the Queen’s Junior Army, and unlike the King’s, these female warriors were skilled in both weapons and magic.

 

His friends included Jarnsaxna a mountain Jotunn, from the Mt. Olympus of Midgard. She was one of the many daughters of Jord, protector and Goddess of that realm and a distant cousin. Angrboda was a Jotunn royal and future Steward of Iron Wood and also a close yet distant cousin. Amora was an Agardian Royal and daughter of the Jotunn Lesser-Royal Imor— one of the nine wives of AEsir— and half-sister of Sif. And Sigyn was a Vanir/Agardian Royal, sister of Fandral.

 

The two groups fought constantly. Thor’s friends, who had no viable seidhr belittled the use of magic, calling it “tricks” and Loki’s friends, called them _jealous_ and _weak._

 

Odin allowed the almost daily battles because they sharpened his children’s skill in their chosen warcraft _and_ because they were amusing.  Both groups won as many battles as they lost but they fought so hard to win without actually hurting each other that the King found it adorable to watch.

 

On the other hand, the fights worried him because he did not want Thor and Loki to grow comfortable in the role of physically opposing one another.

 

Ironically, what the All-Father did not know was that after the battles, Thor and Loki played another game, called Palace. A game that like the battles, they considered more of a practice for their future roles, and in this pretend reality, Thor performed the imagined duties of Kingship with Loki as his Queen. The two royal siblings also explored and pushed the boundaries of a very real love and slowly, because they were still children, they began to learn all the intimate intricacies of a royal _wedded_ life.

 

Unfortunately, Odin did not know about this particular game, for if he did, he probably would not have taken them to the Vault that fateful day and instead encouraged a grudge match.    

 

That day began pleasantly, with Odin telling his children stories about his great youthful adventures with Loptr, his bother past, and even some stories about Vili and Ve, who he was not particularly close, but still loyal to because they were his brothers.  He ended the tale, in front of the Casket of Winters, with a lesson about good Kings and the peace they seek to protect.

 

The All-Father felt pretty awesome as his children looked at him with awe. He even mentally scoffed at Frigga’s warning and wondered why he had not done this sooner.

 

 And just as an overly confident Odin was about to explain to them about how they were both born to be Kings, Loki, for no reason except that the child wanted to do it, stepped around him and touched the Casket.

 

As Loki’s skin turned from the color of fresh cream to the color of the purest cobalt, Odin felt as if the realm stood still.

 

However, Odin was not expecting Thor to marvel and exclaim how beautiful Loki looked in his other skin. Apparently, to Thor, Loki was even more beautiful than Jarnsaxna, whom the blond had a fond physical appreciation for.

 

After that praise, which went on far too long in the All-Father’s opinion, Odin was not surprised that Loki preened narcissistically in front of the reflective walls of the Vault, thus getting a good look at his hereditary lines.

 

The King, who felt as if he just aged 100 years, would have stopped Loki’s vain observations if not for the fact that he was busy trying to keep Thor, who was ridiculously strong for his age, from touching the Casket as well.

 

Before that moment, neither child knew they had the power to Shift and Thor wanted to see the Glory of his Lines as well.

 

Fortunately, Odin was able to remind Thor that his Jotunn blood ran thinner than Loki’s and he might get irreparably hurt if he touched Jotunheimr Greatest Power. Inwardly, Odin thanked the Norns that Thor was easily convinced because how in the Hel would he be able to explain the Lines of Jord’s House, so different than Loki’s, who bore the Lines of Laufey, and so similar to Jarnsaxna’s (who was actually sired by the Jotun Zeus) on his child’s skin if by some horrible chance they were able to manifest.

 

After dragging Thor away from the Casket and forcing Loki to, “Put. It. Back!!!” Odin shuffled them out of the Vault and reprimanded them for being so carelessly dangerous around so many ancient and powerful weapons. 

 

Thor and Loki were so disappointed in their own behavior, neither child asked about Loki’s Lines and Odin was so upset he forgot to tell the story he and his wife narrated to explain them so many years ago.

 

When he calmed down and remembered his oversight, he was inwardly terrified.

 

Because Loki knew.

 

But as the days went by and his overly intelligent raven-haired child did not seem curious about the Lines of the other House, Odin felt a false sense of security and prematurely thought he got away with it, without explanation.

 

He should have expected his children to brag to their friends about Loki’s beauty. Especially Thor, who thought the world revolved around his younger sibling and for Loki to let his brother brag because he was just vain.

 

Odin should have also anticipated for their friends, Sif especially since she was still somewhat upset about her hair, to remind the two princes that it was impossible for Loki to have the Lines of two Houses because Queen Frigga was not of the blood of Jotunheimr.  She was a pure Vanir.

 

When the boys disagreed, Sif pointed toward her own half-sister Amora. “Our father is Asgardian” She reminded imperiously. “Her mother is Jotunn, and though you cannot see them without seidhr manifestation, she bears only the Legacy of her Mother’s House.” Sif then added, not because she adored her sister but because she did not adore Loki. “It’s quite beautiful… probably more beautiful than yours.”

 

In Thor’s opinion, those were fighting words and started a debate, which waxed on his brother’s loveliness.

 

Loki ignored his brother and his brother’s friend to look at his own, silently hoping for a different confirmation.

 

Amora, the eldest and boldest of the group shrugged reluctantly and Jarnsaxna and Angrboda looked away sheepishly for none wanted to be the truth bearer to this unwanted revelation.

 

That evening at dinner, in their private hall, Loki asked his mother why he, in his other skin, had two Hereditary Lines.

 

When she answered, she did not lie.

 

Instead, she told him…. Reminded him… that all and everyone was a descendant of the Great Jotunn Ymir because he was the First.

 

Loki—who learned the art of evasive, manipulative speak from her— nodded at her wisdom and pretended that his mother did not just break his heart.

 

When he asked his father, while being tucked into bed, Odin kissed his brow and told him that he was _his_ son and then a story about finding an innocent baby in the most Holy of Jotunn Temples.

 

Loki ran away that night.

 

Thor, who could not talk his brother out of it, followed.

 

And this was how all of them, a distraught Loki and Thor and later a frantic and terrified Frigga and Odin ended up in the old Royal Capital of Gladsheim and at Bestla’s, the former Queen of Asgard, palace.

 

 

Tbc....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying this fic as much as I am writing it. ^__^
> 
> It’s a continuation of For Thee Who is Most Worthy, even though that was only supposed to be One Shot.
> 
> But I really like this Universe because everyone really loves each other and Loki is especially cherished ( he’s my woobi) and Loki’s only rival is Sif but their battles are childish and funny to me. So please don’t hate on this Sif. She is a brat but she means no real harm.
> 
> I will have the next chapter up soon.  
> I hope you read it. ^_^
> 
> hugs  
> babychan


	2. Searching for the Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Loki was in his nine hundredth year… he thought himself to be adopted. Luckily his Granddam was there to ensure that the House of Odin did not remain a den of lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Thank you so much for all the love! It's always the most amazing and most humbling feeling when you know someone likes your work. (blush) ^__^ I am actually really shy so ...thank you again ^_^
> 
> Also, This was supposed to be a two chaptered story, but as I was editing the “conversation” I realized that I did not explain how everyone got to Bestla’s Palace. So I hope you don’t mind but I am going to back this story up a bit. (lol) Sorry. ^_^

A Love Worth Lying For

by Babychan

 

 

When Loki was very young, about 3-hundred years old— still considered a baby, at least to his parents— Frigga had held him close to her bosom and whispered a secret in his ear about her powers of prophesy. Thinking he was too young to ever remember, she admitted that she would _not_ lose her gift if she witnessed what she saw about the future. She only allowed everyone to believe otherwise because she found it very annoying when people continually came to her begging for advice in regards to love and life choices.

 

However, she was not cruel. If she envisioned trouble in your future, she would warn you. Of course, her words would be open to interpretation but…she _would_ warn you.

 

As Loki grew into adolescence, he learned the subtle skill of evasive and manipulative speak, simply by staying in his mother’s presence.  It was not a conscious choice, this was just how Frigga spoke and this was how Loki, who was practically attached to her hip, learned to speak.  Therefore, with Frigga as his example, he learned how to influence the perception of what the listeners heard and the direction of their actions without ever, truly, making a single suggestion.

 

This was actually a very useful skill when playing with Thor’s friends, especially Sif, who was so easy to goad into doing his bidding.

 

Loki knew that the All-Father used this skill too, but it was not until his Father told him about his “adoption” did the raven-haired child learn that this manner of speak could be used to out-right lie.

 

Without lying at all.

 

When Loki inquired to “why _he_ was taken even though Asgard was at War with Jotunheimr and there were so many other babies without parents,” his father responded by telling Loki that when he “first laid eyes on him, he knew that he found his son, an innocent and there was so much bloodshed already.”

 

When Loki asked if he “was abandoned because he was unwanted by his birth parents,” Odin cupped his cheek and told him that “he was small for a Jotunn, but that mattered not because he loved him, and he was his son.”

 

When Loki asked if he “was taken for a reason.” Odin shook his head no and admitted, “No other reason than the fact that I loved you the moment I saw you.”

 

With tears in his eyes, Loki nodded and accepted his father’s words, but in his heart, he knew that the All-Father was lying. He was not exactly sure what his father was lying about, but the raven-haired child was familiar enough with that kind of speech to know that Odin was hiding something.

 

And Loki was determined to find out what that “ _something_ ” was.

 

So after his father left his room, the young prince hopped out of bed and began to pack, for he was going to runaway and find out what happened to his birth parents in Jotunheimr.

**

Across the grand corridor, Thor had waited, patiently, in his chambers, and bed, for Loki’s nightly visit. He lingered until the rise of the Second Moon before he gave up and tip-toed his way toward the royal nursery, which was still Loki’s room even though the princeling was 9-hundred years old. 

 

Despite his age, Frigga refused to let her youngest grow-up, which was fine by Loki because he loved being babied.

 

In truth, if it were not for Thor’s unique strength and wild sleeping patterns both boys’ would, probably, still be sleeping in the King and Queen’s chambers regardless of the lack of room in the bed. Much to Odin’s dismay and Frigga’s comfort.

 

Be as it may, Thor had gained his own wing recently and only after he repeatedly complained to his father that his friends made light of the fact that he still slept in a nursery even though he was 12-hundred years old.

 

If Thor would have realized, beforehand, that the move would take him away from his brother, he would have kept his mouth shut.

**

When the door to his room opened slightly, Loki feared that Heimdal had told on him and his parents were coming to stop his expedition. After realizing it was only his brother, the child almost sobbed in relief.

 

Thor earnestly smiled in response to Loki’s relieved, yet forced grin.  That is, until he noticed the mess in the room. “What are you doing!?”  The blond roared as he rushed into the chamber.

 

“Shsssh!” Loki quickly raised a finger to his own lips and gave a pointed glare at a hidden door, which was fashioned to look like a panel in the left wall.  It was the entryway to his parents’ room.  “What does it look like? I’m running away!” He hissed back, and then returned to packing.

 

Distressed by that declaration, Thor immediately made a bee-line towards the open travel-case and started unpacking his brother’s belongings.

 

However, the blond quickly realized that the stuff his sibling was taking was not fit for running away anyway, for the contents of Loki’s away-chest only consisted of a bunch of books, magical trinkets, toys and more books all stuffed around a sitting pillow used for reading.

 

Thor looked at his baby brother and silently wondered, “How far did you actually think you would get with this?”

 

“Stop!” The younger child demanded in a low shrill as he forced his stuff back into the ornately designed trunk. “Stop! I need this!” He cried.

 

In Loki’s opinion, this day was already bad enough, he did not need Thor to ruin his plans on trying to fix it. Moreover, the fact that everything he packed was, now, an unorganized mess inside his travel-case made him even more upset, for Loki—who often caused chaos for others—hated disorganization.

 

Thor did not stop unpacking his brother’s belongings. Just the opposite. He started to take everything out and throw it on the floor at an even faster pace, “I am _not_ going to let you runaway!”

 

Loki responded by giving him his best “doe eyes” as he accused, in his best “baby voice”, “Thor… you’re so mean!…” but when his brother refused to be effected by his charms, Loki let out a broken sob and crumpled to his knees. “I need to go...” He whimpered, this time sincerely. “I need to know!”

 

“Know what?” Thor asked purposely loud, in hopes his parents would come in and intervene, as he crawled over to where his brother sat on the floor.  

 

“I need to know….” Loki’s bottom lip trembled and his eyes flooded with real tears. “I need to know why I was abandoned...” He then cupped his face with his hands and let out a choking, heart-breaking sob.

 

Thor quickly pulled his beloved onto his lap and held him in a close embrace as he kissed Loki’s forehead, his ears, his neck and every place on Loki’s face his lips could reach that was not hidden behind his brother’s small hands.

 

Loki’s sorrow, and the undeniable truth of it, brought tears to Thor’s eyes.

 

“It’s okay…It’s okay, Love.” He whispered soothingly as he rubbed circles on Loki’s back.  “Just…please stop crying….” When Loki only cried harder because Thor hadn’t yet agreed to let him go, the blond stared at his parent’s bedroom door and mentally promised if they did not wake up and come in here within the next… five…no, ten seconds, then he would agree to Loki’s demand.

 

Counting as slowly as he could and lingering on the last three numbers for as long as possible— to no avail or intervention— Thor reluctantly resolved to his own promise.

 

Tenderly, the elder child cupped both sides of his brother’s face and delicately shifted its direction toward his gaze. “I’ll let you go…and find what you need to know…But I have one condition, of which you have to agree to.”

 

After a few seconds, Loki gave a reluctant, jerky nod but could not stop crying.

 

Thor gently grabbed his brother’s hands and slowly pried them from his face. When Loki did nothing to try to stop him, Thor, then tilted his own head to the side so he could look into red-rimmed emerald eyes. “I’m going with you. Okay?”

 

Loki immediately paused in shock. He did not know what he thought his brother was going to demand but that was not it. With a joy, which did not even exist a moment ago, Loki wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck and cried harder onto his shoulder. He fervently nodded his agreement because he was too upset, as well as happy, to actually speak. He was glad his brother offered to accompany him, for he had wanted Thor to come with him anyway.

 

Loki was even going to attempt the rare feat of _asking without manipulation._

Fortunately, in this particular instance, the elder prince was completely in tuned with the younger’s needs without prompting.

 

However, it was while Thor held his bother close and mentally ruminated and strategized how they were going to get to Jotunheimr and what provisions they needed to survive the journey, did he discover where he and Loki could find the _truth_ , without breaking the sanctions against Jotunheimr by sneaking into that forbidden realm.

 

Actually, the idea came to him after absently noticing a tapestry of the Royal Family on Loki’s wall.

 

Not his family, or immediate family, one should say, but their father’s, for the image depicted the likenesses of King Bor, Queen Bestla, Prince Odin and Prince Loptr.

 

Woven portraits of this sort were not uncommon, but what made this one so unique was that it showed a picture of Odin, before his hair turned white due to extreme grief.

 

The change of the current King’s hair happened so long ago, everyone in Asgard—a race famous for being long in life and short in memory— now assumes Odin’s hair was originally blond, like Frigga’s and Thor’s, but that assumption was false. His father had raven-hair like Loki, Loptr and his Granddam Bestla.

 

Staring at the portrait, Thor remembered that it was his Granddam, who gave Loki this tapestry. It was also she, who always told them a wealth of stories about their Jotunn ancestry.

 

She knew _everything_ about _every_ Jotunn’s House, of importance.

 

Thor also remembered that his Granddam’s palace was the only place, in all the Nine that their father treaded lightly and had _absolutely no rule._

So if Loki wanted to learn the truth about his Lines, then they needed to talk to their Granddam _first_.

 

tbc.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say, Thanks Again to everyone for your support of this story ^_^
> 
> The chapter will explain how Odin and Frigga got there.
> 
> I hope you will be still interested enough to continue ^_^
> 
> Hugs   
> Babychan


	3. A Lie Worth Protecting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Loki was in his nine hundredth year… he thought himself to be adopted. Luckily his Granddam was there to ensure that the House of Odin did not remain a den of lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your amazing response to this story!! 
> 
> This chapter explains how Odin and Frigga knew where to go. It is also a mixture of comic, movie and Norse mythos. Very fun to write. ^_^ I hope you like it. Hugs

 

A Love Worth Lying For

by Babychan

 

 

When Odin and Frigga woke up to find the princes’ missing, their first thought was that someone had kidnapped their precious children. However, this was always their initial reaction and fear when they could not find their offspring.

 

Immediately, they called for Heimdal, for they were alarmed to why he did not alert them to the children’s’ disappearance. They also called to service both the King’s and the Queen’s Army and conscribed them to find the children and without mercy, kill the kidnappers.

 

As aforementioned, it was not a unique event for Loki and Thor to turn up missing, so there were already strategies in place to make the search go quickly and easily. Moreover, all of Asgard knew of the horrific and deadly repercussions of having being found to have the children in their care when the boy’s decided to go on their wayward, unsanctioned adventures, and therefore, wisely refused to give them shelter or aid.

 

Actually, if they saw the boy’s outside the castle walls, without their guards, they would fearfully run into their houses and quickly bolt their doors and windows.

 

It was for this reason, the princes’ and their companions never really got far.

 

Except for that one time….

**

 It was a little more than a hundred years ago and during the construction of Asgard’s Great Wall when Thor and Loki escaped the palace for the first time.

 

Bestla, who always favored Jotunn architecture and supported Jotunn builders hired Hrimthurs to construct the Battlement.

 

Hrimthurs was a Master at his Craft and only needed one employee to complete the job, a sorcerer named Svadilifari.

 

Svadilifari was a peculiar man of an undetermined race, who took the shape of a horse to expedite the work of the Wall’s labor during the day and in the evenings, he shifted back into an unattractively horsey faced man. What is more, he had taken a special interest in Loki and the development of Loki’s budding magic.

 

Odin and Frigga did not approve of their “friendship” because Svadilifari was a grown man and Loki was a child. They even tried to forbid any relations but the raven-haired prince kept sneaking off to visit and learn magic from the sorcerer until Odin finally gave up.

 

Reluctantly, the King permitted the lessons during scheduled visits, only, and under the watchful eye of a dozen or so suspicious guards, Heimdal, and Thor who demanded to be present as well.

 

From Svadilifari, Loki learned how to weave a different kind of seidhr, which did not resemble Asgardian, Vanir or Jotunn magic. Under this Master, the young prince learned how to create life and stave off death through the creation of a woven cloth fashioned from the golden fleece of a Colchis’ ram.

 

The Colchis ram grew a universally coveted quality of fleece, which was priceless in the way that only a very few in all the Nine Realms could afford it, but all wanted it.

 

Loki bought it with his allowance.

 

The princeling finished weaving his piece of magical cloth a moon’s night before the Wall was completed. Now, all he needed was something to bring back to life. However, living in the Realm of the Eternal, this was not an easy task.

 

Fortunately, Thor, who had watched the entire process, did not believe the cloth would work and brought the bones of his seven prized stallions, which were unjustly eaten by the Midgardians during their last visit to Midgard, to use as test subjects.

 

In regards to his unfortunate stallions, his mother had warned him not to bring them, stating there was a terrible famine on Midgard, but Thor dismissed her worries because he wanted to show-off to his cousins on Mt. Olympus.

 

Moreover, Thor did not believe the Midgardians would eat _his_ stallions.

 

He was a God and he thought they knew better.

 

But apparently hunger usurps common sense.   

 

Unfortunately, as the two princes’ laid out the bones, upon the cloth, neither child could discern which bones belonged to which horse or even calculate how many bones a horse was supposed to have. So… their first experiment was more-or-less a guess.

 

The results of the magic were not immediate. Instead, it took a full night for the enchantment to work, but on that morning, a monster of a horse stood before them.

 

It was at least 3x larger and more muscular than any horse they had ever seen and it had EIGHT LEGS.

 

Loki loved it immediately because this was a being born of his magic, and for that reason, he considered it _his_ child.

 

Thor loved it immediately too because this amazing creation was _his_ horse, born of the bones of _his_ cherished stallions.

 

And when they finally stopped fighting about ownership and decided to share custody, the two young royals took their magnificent Horse for a ride…and…  Oh My…The two could not believe it, as they held on tightly.

 

Their horse ran on the wind.

 

He ran between Worlds.

 

He was magical….

 

Oh My Norns… He was Magical!!!!

 

Because of this power, Thor and Loki called him Sleipnir, the Wind Rider. And they both agreed that this _child_ of theirs was the Best of all Horses.

 

When the two finally came back home, it was months later, though to Thor and Loki it felt like only minutes.  Therefore, the boys were very surprised to see Asgard up-in-arms and on severe lockdown.

 

Apparently, when they took their little jaunt, Svadilifari became afraid when they did not immediately return.

 

It also did not help the horse-man’s nerves when, not even an hour after their disappearance, the soldiers started accusing Svadilifari of kidnapping the princes’ because it was _his_ magic that helped Loki weave the golden-fleeced cloth and it was that cloth that created the beast which stole the children.

 

Therefore, Svadilifari stole the children.

 

The sorcerer did not agree with that logic and turned into a horse and ran away before he could be captured, imprisoned and possibility killed, thus leaving his innocent and un-witting boss to take the brunt of Odin’s and Frigga’s fury, once they found out their children were missing.

 

 And the Builder…

 

The poor Builder……

 

We don’t talk about the Builder…..

 

But after that incident, Odin will privately admit that even a God-King can make mistakes… sometimes.

 

At the boys’ homecoming, Odin was both relieved and furious. He was glad they came back unharmed but found it difficult to calm-down and accept the fact that they were truly returned to him. For a time, he even made them start sleeping in the King and Queen’s chambers again because not being able to find them was the worst experience of his and Frigga’s life.

 

When Odin inspected the beast his children created, he could feel a strange seidhr around it. It was then when he realized why he, while sitting on Hlidskjalf, and Heimdal could not find them. Sleipnir was able to produce a shroud and its magic blocked their powerful sight.

 

So Odin commandeered Sleipnir for himself because in his opinion, his children were too young and too irresponsible for a horse, which held the power to jump realms and cloak the existence of itself and its riders.

 

Odin also took Loki’s golden-fleeced cloth and packed it away in the Vault. The last thing the King needed, or wanted, was for Loki and Thor to bring all manner of dead things to life inside the Walls of Asgard.

**

 

Thinking about Sleipnir’s “birth” reminded Odin to send someone to check the stables. By the time the servant returned with the news that his prized horse was gone, and apparently saddled, he and Frigga had just fully suited for battle against an un-known and evidently non-existent enemy.

 

With Sleipnir’s disappearance, Odin and Frigga understood that this was not a case of kidnapping because the Great Horse would not allow anyone, except those of the Royal family, to ride him.

 

Frigga raised a deceptively delicate hand over her mouth as her eyes widened with alarm. “Do you think… they went to Jotunheimr?” She inquired as her other hand unconsciously reached for the hilt of her dagger in an untold promise of very real pain if anyone tried to harm—or keep— her babies.

 

Odin nodded grimly as he thought about the tale he told his youngest that night.

 

Therefore, with this very real possibility in mind, they summoned their best battalions and made their way toward the BiFrost. They were going to Jotunheimr and prayed to the Norns that they found Loki and Thor before Laufey did.

 

However, before they, and their small Army made it to the Realms Bridge, they ran into Heimdal who was walking beside his golden-maned horse, Gulltoppr, in the direction of the palace.

 

He was not riding his horse because he was drunk.

 

And drinking and riding… is bad. Everyone new that.

 

Odin and Frigga frowned at the state of the Guardian but was not entirely surprised to see him intoxicated, for everyone knew that Heimdal drank mead in his dwelling, Himinbjorg, on his days off. 

 

“Can I hope…” Odin began, from his horse’s back, in a kingly voice as he glared down at the Guardian. “that despite your drunken misgivings, you can at least tell me _when_ my children left the palace and _where_ they went to?”

 

There was a chance Heimdal could find them, for Sleipnir’s shroud only worked when the passengers were riding him.

 

The coffee-skinned man drunkenly shook his head no, making his whole body stagger and sway as he admitted mournfully. “Last night…. My parents came to visit…” Then with a grand gesture of infinite sarcasm, he continued. “Soooo…You can probably guess how that evening went, with me, being _well past marrying age_ and I quote… still clinging onto the single life.…” He made clumsy drunken motions with his hands, “Aaaaand the constant reminder that I have no children, _no heir,_ to pass on my name, which my _father so particularly chose_ ….” He rolled his eyes and almost fell backwards before he reached for the air in front of him and somehow caught himself before falling. “Thennnn if that wasn’t enough…. they had the adsasss…the audasss… the audacity to suggest I have a child out-of-wedlock if I could not keep a woman….” He hiccupped and added as a slurred afterthought, “Or bearer..”

 

He looked absolutely scandalized at the suggestion of having an illegitimate child before he continued with even more embarrassing news.

 

“And then my littlest sister said, “maybe Hemhem can’t have kids””

 

The squeaky, inebriated voice impression tore a chuckle from some of the observing soldiers.

 

Unfortunately, Heimdal did not hear them, for maybe if he did, then he would have silenced his tirade, but instead, he began to describe how his parents started to freak out as they feared and started to believe he truly _was_ infertile, using the fact that he did not have any bastards running around as conclusive evidence.

 

The golden-eyed man then drunkenly mocked, in what was apparently all of his mothers’ voices “ …It’s _unnatural_ for an Ass’ not to have at least _one!”_ He then pointed at the Queen, fearfully. “I have to go to the Healers and get my seed checked on your day.” He admitted woefully.  “If I don’t….They will know because Eir is one of my sisters…” He added even though everybody already knew.

 

Heimdal then reached inside an inner pocket of his jerkin, pulled out a flask and took a swig.  A big swig. Apparently he wasn’t finished drinking.

 

“My mothers…” he continued with a grimace, for he had _nine biological mothers_. “Are now in a competition to find me a spouse.” He looked at the royal couple and implored. “So… if you are going to kill me, please do it now and save me the pain of my parent’s torture.” 

 

The Guardian fell to his hands and knees and drunkenly held his head forward as if he were in front of a chopping block.

 

Odin, who had initially wanted to punish the man, now just felt pity and a little bit of relieved perspective in regards to his own relationship with his mother. It was not an exaggeration to say that Bestla was overbearing but at least he only had one. Heimdal had _nine_ , and he was the _only son_ of AEsir and therefore his father’s favorite child.

 

The polygamist loved and provided for all of the children he sired from his nine wives but he will never deny that he wanted a son despite the fact he seeded dozens upon dozens of daughters.

 

AEsir’s wives realized, before he did, that his seed alone would not give him a son. Mostly, for the fact that none of the wives would allow any of their “sisters” to bear him a son before them.  Unknown to the Asgardian Lord, the AEsir House was a miasma of magical sabotage, which explained why half of the man’s daughters were masculine and/or aggressive, like Sif, in spite of their feminine visage.

 

Atla, who wanted to stop having children— at least for a few centuries— devised a plan which included all of the sister-wives. The magical arrangement would give AEsir the son he always desired and all of them the right to claim the prized heir.

 

Unfortunately, for Heimdal, he was the child all of his parents wanted and they never left him alone. And even though they claimed to want him to find someone, no one, in all of the Nine, was ever good enough, in their opinion, for him.

 

They cock-blocked him at every turn.

 

He has not had a date, one where they did not happen to “just show up,” in over a thousand years.

 

What is more, nothing he did was ever good enough for them. Not even his job as Guardian of Asgard, which was pretty damn important in Heimdal’s opinion but his parents felt he deserved a promotion because of his Gift of Sight. They wanted him to be elevated to the title of Royal Advisor to the King, even though that job belongs to Queen Frigga.

 

They made him miserable…

 

So he drinks.

**

 

Realizing that Heimdal would be no use to them and they were wasting precious time, the blond woman turned her gaze toward her husband and commanded. “Let us go.”

 

Odin did not get a chance to respond to his Queen’s command, as one of his mother’s messengers appeared behind the bowed Guardian and reported that Thor and Loki were at Bestla’s Palace.

 

However, before the two Royals could breathe a sigh of relief, the page added that his mother, Former Queen Bestla, had put forth a summons for their presence, as they had _much to discuss_.

 

He even said the last part with finger quotation marks.

 

The two Rulers of the Nine were not sure if they should feel relieved that their children were found safe or even more afraid because of where they turned up.

 

They did agree on one thing though, it was the fact that they were keeping their armor _on_.

 

 

 

Tbc…..


	4. A love predicted: Bestla & Borr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Loki was in his nine hundredth year… he thought himself to be adopted. Luckily his Granddam was there to ensure that the House of Odin did not remain a den of lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I am sooooo very sorry about the delay. I got a new job, which is very laborious. It has been sapping the energy I need to do the Norse research for this fic. There is a reason why I chose every character and I love writing relevant back stories. ( ^_^ ) 
> 
> I was also stuck on how I could tell..at least part of Bestla’s story and Asgard’s history without having to write a new fic. So the next chapter, which is mostly written, is going to be the last chapter of a Love Worth Lying For.
> 
> Thank you again. I love you all. I really do!!

 

A Love Worth Lying For

 

Long before the Great War with Jotunheimr, before even Laufey, Odin and even Borr took their thrones, there was a pact, cultivated from the love and loyalty between twin Jotunn royal heirs, who were born from the Great Boelthor, which promised unity within their future families.

 

The eldest of the two twin bearers was named Vafthruthnir and she was beautiful, learned and wise in past, present and future events and for that rare gift of prophecy, the royal was betrothed early in life to a distant cousin named Mimir, future Ruler of Jotunheimr.

 

The second child was also a famed beauty, enviously intelligent, sharp in wit and powerful in sorcery. Though not betrothed, despite numerous offers, this royal child would end up marrying the King of Asgard and bear the child that would one-day rule all Nine Realms.

 

However, before the twins were parted by way of marriage, they made a promise carved in icestone and soaked in blood which proclaimed that their children would marry and bear the heir that would bring their family back together thus ensuring their future decedents would be forever entwined and never allowed to part.

 

Of course, being children… happy, privileged and adored, at that, they had no idea that bad things could happen to them when they forced Fate to comply to their whims. For if they did, they would not have worded this pledge with so much room for interpretation.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

When Bestla, met Borr, King of Asgard, she was 21-hundred years old, powerful in both station and magic and fiercely independent.

 

By most peoples’ opinion, she was considered an old maid, as most bearers married by the ripe age of 13-hundred but Bestla was beautiful and a sibling to the spouse of the Ruler of Jotunheimr, so despite her undesirable age, _and personality_ , the offers kept coming. 

 

Of course, Bestla kept refusing them for her sister— who saw in part, knew in part, and understood in part— prophesized that her husband, who ever he may be, was not of their realm. 

 

So she waited.

 

Unfortunately, neither Bestla or Vafthruthnir, Vaf as everyone called her, knew it would take so long for her husband to find her.  Fortunately, Bestla did not mind keeping her body pure, but the absence of her future husband was ruining the twins childhood plans to conceive on the same day and bear on the same day so that their children could be twins…if not in body but on the same date.

 

 From the time Vaf was 13-hundred to the age of two thousand years old, she waited for her sister to marry and used magic to avoid conception, but sadly, the husband she had envisioned for her twin had not made an appearance. What was worse was that if she did not conceive soon, her own marriage would be null-and-void because she would be proclaimed barren and her royal reputation would be ruined.

 

So the twins contrived a plan.

 

They would trick Mimir to bed them both by taking advantage of their identical appearance and the use of icewine to blur the subtle differences of their Familial Lines.  

 

It was perfect, because not only would the children be twins by date but also siblings by blood.

 

For almost a century the twins, Bestla and Vaf, glowed with happiness as they carried the heirs of the King within their bodies. And with a bit of magic they chose and induced the day their children would be born.

 

 Vaf’s child came into the world first. He was small but powerful in Ice magic, fey, and beautiful. She named him Laufey to commemorate his precious divinity.  

 

Bestla’s child came only a moment later looking almost identical to his sibling and cousin. The only small difference was their familial lines. And like their mothers, the new borns’ markings represented the heredity of both parents and only differed slightly to proclaim their own unique existence. When Bestla held him close, she could feel and scent his power. It smelled like air and it felt like freedom, so she called him Loptr. 

 

 When Mimir saw both children for the first time he was both pleased and furious with his spouse and sister-in-law.

 

The reason for his dichotomous emotions rested in the fact that up until his spouse showed signs of actual pregnancy, he feared he might have been infertile. There were also rumors that Vaf child’s was not his, but Bestla’s, and Bestla’s child was Vaf’s, but now, seeing his Legacy Lines so clearly on Laufey and Loptr, Mimir knew he was an impressive progenitor and he was making plans to punish the rumor mongers who made him silently suffer so many decades with doubt.

 

 The anger came in the fact that his spouse and sister-in-law lied to him for the entirety of their pregnancy. They dismissed his (hopeful) suspicions about Bestla’s child being his, telling him it was a drunken dream. Even more, they had refused to tell him who “really” sired the child. And they refused his generous offers to marry Bestla and give her an honored title of 1st Consort because he did not want his in-law’s child to be born without a Name and a House.

 

In spite of his good intentions, the twins still refused Mimir’s munificence because they were waiting for Bestla’s “mystery husband,”

 

It was not until the child was born and Loptr’s Familial Lines confirmed what Mimir knew all along that he stopped being the “nice king” and told both his wife and his _future wife_ that there were no Bastards in the House of Mimir and Bestla would be wed to him as well.

 

However, before their union came to past, Mimir was murdered, decapitated on his own throne by an unknown assailant, for all knew it was not an act of treason, for all in Jotunheimr deeply loved their Ruler. 

 

This act of war forced the crown to fall on the head of the infant Laufey.  This act also aligned their fate and their families’ fate to that long ago promise.

 

****

 

“Are you going to tell us how Grandfather Borr defeated the Dark Elves?” Thor interrupted, hopefully, with wide sky-blue eyes. He was putting on the last of his sleeping clothes as his Grand-Dam tucked Loki into bed. A bed they would be sharing since both spoiled princes chose and demanded their father’s old chambers to rest in during their impromptu visit.

 

Bestla hugged him after he came closer and shook her head no. “You already know that story.” She then lifted him up and onto the high bed as if he weighed but a feather and tucked him into bed beside his brother.

 

“It’s a good story.” He smiled out in a not so subtle hint.

 

“It is.” She agreed sweetly, with a kiss on the top of his blond head. “But this story is not about war. It’s too late for such thoughts. This tale is about—”

 

“How you and Grand-Auntie Vaf embalmed Great King Mimir’s head with herbs and charmed it so it could talk to you?” Loki asked hopefully with wide emerald eyes.

 

“No, of course not!” Bestla gasped as she raised her hand to her throat and looked at her youngest grandchild. “And how do you even know that?”

 

Loki looked away then back toward his Grand-Dam as if he were reluctantly explaining a truth she should already know. “Well… sometimes I talk to him…”

 

Thor nodded in agreement. “It’s gross.”

“Tis not!” The raven-haired child pouted as he pushed Thor lightly on the arm. “It’s amazing!” He then returned his attention toward Bestla and beamed. “He also teaches me magical songs!... He said there are nine of them! I have only learned two but Great Uncle Mimir said that was very impressive for my age!”

 

“You _are_ impressive” Thor conceded, as he pushed his little brother back. “But it’s still gross!”

 

“Tis not!” Loki pouted again with another light push. He could not find it in him to be too upset since Thor praised him.

 

Unable to fully grasp what she was hearing, the former Queen of Asgard choked out, “Where?” In a forced light tone, “Where do you talk to him?” She looked intently at both boys.

 

The children stopped their childish bickering and stared back at her with an open expression of confusion.

 

“…Behind Hlidskjalf….” Came the reluctant whisper. Thor looked as if he were not sure he was supposed to tell.

 

“Hlidskjalf!!..” She gasped, covering her mouth with a delicate hand. “Are you telling me your father has him?”

 

Her sister was heart broken when they discovered that Mimir was missing from her royal chambers after the Great War and more devastated that they could not find him, even with the power of Sight and Seidhr.

 

And all this time… her horrible son had him.

 

“Was dada not supposed to?” Loki whispered in his baby voice before he asked, “Was I not supposed to tell?” His eyes welled with tears. He did not want to get his father in trouble.

 

 

Bestla softened her gaze as she smiled at her Grandson and kissed the top of his head. “Yes, of course you were supposed to tell.” Then reminded “What you are not supposed to do is keep secrets from me because that would make me very sad.”

 

When Loki gave her an unsure nod, she kissed his forehead and then kissed Thor’s for good measure, to calm the boys down, but inwardly…

 

She tacked on one more punishment for her recalcitrant son for the unnecessary pain he caused her sister.

 

“Worry not., Loves…” She soothed as she gathered both boys in a group hug then crawled, most regally, on the bed and sat between them. “I am sure your father simply forgot to tell me.”

 

When the two princes looked at each other skeptically, the Former Queen continued with false, yet believable cheer. “Shall we carry on with the story?”

 

****

 

When Mimir was murdered it was first believed that the Vanir had committed the treacherous act but the Jotunns quickly disregarded that notion for the fact that the Vanir, had their own problems,… with their recent defeat and capture by the Asgardians. They had not the time, man power or desire to make any more enemies by killing the King of another Realm.

 

It turned out that the culprit was Malekith, a new and ruthless King of Svartalfheim, and his army of warriors called the Kursed. Malekith was after the famed Casket of Ancient Winters, which was gifted to the House of Mimir by a Niflheim Royal in gratitude for a rare drink from the Holy Well.

 

Unfortunately, no one predicted that the presence of that powerful trinket would also bring deadly foes.

 

 After the death of her husband, the interim ruler, Vaf, petitioned an alliance with Asgard for the purposes of enacting justice against Svartalfheim.

 

Vaf strategically chose to ally herself with the Asgardians because they were primitive, yet malleable under the right hands. The Ass’ race was only slightly younger than her own but while the Jotunns had used that time to build cities, schools and enviable libraries of knowledge, the Ass’ were still wanders in their own land, roaming from one edge of their realm to the other as they followed the hunt and lived in temporary shelters. They were not lovers of the arts, sciences or written wisdoms as the Jotunns were.  They were transients, vagabonds, and mercenaries who still used stone and iron to forge weapons, for they knew not magic.

 

However, they did surpass the Jotunns in one essential area.

 

They knew how to fight.

 

And that was why Vaf needed them.

 

The Asgardians loved War.

 

And they did not stop fighting until they won.

 

They were the ultimate warrior race.

 

And because of that tenacity the Nine feared them.

 

Borr, who appreciated all aspects of war, initially had no desire to start a battle with an enemy that was not Asgards. He had just conquered Vanaheimr and the integration of their culture into Asgards was proving to be taxing and annoying. He was also mourning the death of his father Burri. Therefore, he had no immediate aspiration to forge an alliance with Jotunheimr or amalgamate another defeated culture into his world until he was certain the Vanir were completely cowed.

 

That is…. Until his eyes rested upon Bestla and her exotic beauty.

 

 Unlike Vaf, who was shrouded head to toe in a white mourning cloth, Bestla stood exposed. In a manner no Ass’ has ever been bared.

 

Borr had never seen such glorious cobalt skin before.

 

As he unabashedly stared, he unconsciously fisted his hands because he wanted to touch her and see if she was as cool as she looked.

 

He swallowed audibly because he wanted to taste her and be refreshed by her natural essence.

 

He sat a little straighter on his make-shift throne as his groin tightened because he wanted to claim her as his.

 

He wanted to plant his seed inside her and see the wondrous child that would come from their union.

 

He wanted….

 

Like he had never wanted anything before.

 

Borr’s emerald eyes feasted on Bestla’s intelligently fierce ruby ones and as he boldly took in her appearance he could not help to notice the rest of their differences.

 

Unlike his fiery and unruly, red mane of hair, her long tresses resembled uniformed waves of black diamonds.

 

Their outerwear’s differed too. He was covered in Asgardian leather and iron chainmail, carried an axe on his back, a sword at his hip and a dagger in each boot, but she, obviously a soldier as well, in his opinion, wore intricately designed golden arm and shin bracers and carried no obvious weapon.  She also wore a golden and ornately designed chest plate, fashioned in a way that only protected the upper portion of her body, leaving her narrow waist and stomach exposed and guiding his eyes to the curve of her shapely hips.  Around her hips, Borr appreciated Bestla’s tightly wrapped sarong, of what appeared to be green Jotunn silk. It was short in length and tied in the front, where the extra material lay like a long sash; however, it was tightened in a manner that seductively accentuated the curve of her hips and the suppleness of her rear.

 

Curious and hungry to know, Borr wondered if the placement of the tie was on purpose, to hide Bestal’s dual sex.

 

Even though Borr was born and bred in Asgard he, as all of the Nine, had heard the stories of the beauty of the Jotunn bearers, though he had never seen one for himself, for the Jotunns were very protective of them. Now he sees why, and also understands why his friend, Freyr, relentlessly wooed Gerdr only to hide her away from the eyes of all other men after he got her.

 

From the moment he saw her, Borr knew that he was in love with Bestla and he felt that he had been waiting his entire life to meet her.

 

Frustrated by his emotions and the deeply innate longing for a person he just meet, the King of the Ass’ tore his eyes away from the Jotunn beauty only to have his gaze fall upon his wife, Audumbia, who was glaring at him knowingly.  He inwardly shuddered, for Audumbia reminded him of a cow in both mind and body.

 

She would not have ever been his first choice for a wife but she was betrothed to him before he was even born. A promise made from his father to a young girl who fed him at a time when he was most weary.

 

Borr did not want this life, _or wife_ , which was forced on him by his father. He wanted more. He wanted love. But the House of Burri bore not Oath Breakers and he married Audumbia.

 

It was an unhappy union for both parties.

 

Audumbia was a simple woman, born in the western country if Asgard and raised for an uncomplicated life. She was not suited for the notorious politics of the royal court.  

 

Still, she bore him two sons— Vili and Ve— who were fiercely loyal to him and to Asgard but like their mother, dumb as an ox.

 

Borr loved his sons but because they were simple, he feared for them more.

In Borr’s opinion, they were princes in name and blood only. They had not the mind to rule. They had not the wisdom to inherit the crown.

 

Borr returned his gaze toward the present ruler of Jotunheimr and remembered that the waters of that realm contained and manifested wisdom and understanding and that the Jotunns led the path for all the Nine’s technology, which included a bridge called a Bi-Frost that connected the worlds and something called seidhr, which had the power to heal even the most deadly of injuries.

 

Borr knew that if Asgard, a realm of relentless warriors, had this power they would be unstoppable. 

 

However, more than his desire for technology, Borr wanted to sate his lust.

 

Borr told Vaf, in front of his entire court, in front of his wife, that he would enter Asgard into a war with Svartalfheim _and win_ that war for Jotunheimr, but for a price, which could only be paid by Bestla.

 

Vaf refused. Telling the King “that her sister was, indeed, a prize worthy of starting a war for, but she was not a concubine. She will be second to no-one.” She turned her shrouded gaze toward Audumbia and proclaimed, “Bestla was a Queen.”

 

“And she will be.” Borr promised with a regal bow of the head.

 

And it was so.

 

Beneath her mourning shroud, Vaf smiled knowingly, for finally her sister’s husband had made his appearance.

 

****

 

“Grand-Dam” Thor whined. “When are you going to tell us about the War?”

 

Bestla left her memories and looked down at her eldest grandchild. “Darling, I thought we already had an understanding. This is not a tale of the Svartalfheim Great War. This is a Legacy. A remembrance of our family’s unity before…”

 

 “Thor..” Loki interrupted not meaning to be rude, but still rudely.  “Grand-Dam probably doesn’t want to talk about that particular War…” He gave the blond a pointed look then leaned over the woman, cupped his hand around his mouth and whispered loudly to his brother. “Because of what happened… _Remember_?”

 

“Excuse me?” Bestla intoned flatly as Thor’s eyes lit up with distress and he nodded toward her apologetically. “What, exactly, are you two insinuating?”  She asked, even though she already knew.

 

The gall of her two beloved little brats to bring up her only shame.

 

The very gall!

 

They are lucky they were her favorite.

 

~~~

 

The War with Svartalfheim was the first time the former Queen of Asgard, Former High Princess of Jotunheimr had ever battled. At the time, Jotunns were not known for their warrior skills. They were scholars and artist.  If they had been warriors they would not have needed Asgard’s help in the first place.  Unfortunately, Bestla was also very prideful and when Borr asked her— in front of his court and members of his army— if she could fight… She lied and said:

 

 Yes, she could.

 

Thinking that her mastery of seidhr would be enough to protect her.

 

Unluckily, it did not.

 

And her shame was obscenely public.

 

Only focusing on what was in front of her, Bestla was grabbed from behind, by a Kursed solider, and stabbed in the back with her own dagger.

 

It was quite embarrassing.

 

She was almost killed by a low ranking solider, in her very first battle, in front of her husband.

 

And her husband’s army.

 

Fortunately, no one got the chance to make fun of her because two things happened after that incident.

 

The first was the birth of the Berserker.

 

Borr’s reaction at witnessing his new bride’s almost ill-fated attack created a Legend and uncovered a sleeping power of absolute destruction that the Ass’ did not know their King harbored.

 

Borr’s Rage was equally beneficial as it was harmful for when blinded by his emotions of hate and bloodlust the good King could not tell friend from foe.

 

The second event, which occurred after Bestla’s attack was that women were now forbidden to fight in wars.

 

Actually, it was only Bestla who was originally disallowed to fight on Borr’s order. He called her a distraction and blamed her for his fury, which made him kill everything, even those in his own army.

 

Which was true... but Bestla refused to take the blame especially since they won that battle “thanks to her.”

 

Bestla, who should have feared Borr after the carnage she had just witnessed and the fact that he was yelling at her while still drenched in the blood of the dark elves and his own people, opposed the order, even though she really had her fill of fighting. (Being stabbed through the back would do that to you)

 

Bestla refused to be the only one sent back. So Borr used his authority as King to send _all_ the women back, despite the fact that they accounted for a little more than half his army.

 

No WOMEN!

 

That meant no Fucking and no Food!

 

Two of the three most important “F’s” all Asgardians lived by.

 

After that decree Asgard, and the rest of the Nine, learned that many of the Ass’ had the power to go berserk.

 

Ironically, not the women.

 

When Bestla continued to complain about being sent back, especially since Asgardian homes were ephemeral and there was nowhere she was being sent to, Borr said that he did not care where she went as long as she did not go back to Jotunheimr and she was not anywhere near the battlefield.

 

When Bestla questioned what she was supposed to do with thousands of displaced female soldiers, Borr commanded that she could do whatever she wanted with them as long as she was not anywhere near the battlefield.

 

So she did.

 

While Borr fought, Bestla ruled.

 

And Asgard became the most powerful Realm of all.

 

Many of the Old Guard, in Borr’s original court, believed that this was Bestla’s plan all along, for she was never silent about her displeasure in regards to their nomadic lifestyle.

 

So they believed that Bestla purposely took a fall that day so that she could rule and shape Asgard in her image, while Borr fought to protect what Bestla created.

 

 And though she never admitted this to anyone….

 

She did exactly that.

 

As a Premier Princess, she had left a lavish palace in Jotunheimr when she wed Borr.  Now that she was a Queen she demanded another one.

 

Therefore, under Borr’s rule, Asgard evolved and his marriage to Bestla was the conception of Asgard’s first Ragnarok.

 

The end of the world as they new it and the birth of a new and greater era.

 

~~~~

 

“I’ll have you know…” Bestla grumbled and frowned playfully as she tickled each child. “If it wasn’t for “what happened” you two would be living in Bilgesnipe-skin huts and damp and dirty caves!”

 

“That sounds _wonderful_!” Thor giggled as he tried to squirm away from her dexterous fingers.

 

“Not to me!” Loki gasped happily as he hugged her close, making it too difficult an angle for her to tickle him and started to tickle her instead. When Thor noticed the counter attack, he pounced as well.

 

 Bestla, who was not actually ticklish, especially with Thor and his super strength gouging her ribs, pretended to laugh as she subtly nodded to Sigrdrifa, her Lady in Waiting.  The women had slipped into the room unnoticed by the boys and silently let the Queen Mother know that the messenger was sent and Odin would arrive shortly.

 

 No longer a novice in the art of Battle, Bestla knocked both boys onto their backs with two short playful moves, “I win.” She bragged in a sing-song voice, making both boys giggle in admittance that she _always_ wins.

 

“That’s because I hate losing.” She smiled truthfully and kissed both boys on the forehead, while subtly using her seidhr to put them immediately to sleep. She decided that this was a good point to end their night for Thor and Loki were no longer distressed. Instead, they were happy and laughing and for now, they had forgotten why they ran away and sought refuge at her palace.

 

As she scooted off the bed and elegantly walked out of the room, she turned to glance at them one last time.  She noticed that the two boys had already gravitated towards one another, where Thor protectively held Loki in his arms and Loki snuggled close with absolute unconscious trust.

 

The image reminded her of the promise she and her sister made all those years ago… about keeping their family… in the family.

 

The sight also reminded her of her own two boys, Loptr and Odin, in this very room, and their unshakeable bond that not even death could put asunder.

 

As she walked out with a solemn heart and her most trusted servant gently closed the grand doors of the royal bedchambers behind her, Bestla confessed as she glared at her inner thoughts.

 

“I’ve spoiled Odin for too long.”

 

Sigrdrifa wisely kept silent for she had secretly agreed with this epiphany for thousands of years.

 

“I thought he would eventually grow out of his tomfoolery…but tonight I learned that despite his age, and Position, he has a child’s mind.” She took a deep breath to calm herself. However, as she exhaled she shifted from her Aesir form to her natural Jotunn skin. She only did this when she was truly furious because Asgard was too hot a climate for her natural form. “So as his mother… I have a responsibility to set him straight.”

 

Sigrdrifa could barely hold back a smile as she walked behind her Queen down the long corridor. Bestla was not a force to be reckoned with. She was no longer the unskilled warrior. She was a True Master in the art of battle and magic and she had a temper, which out raged the fury of the original berserker.  Even more, she was a terrifyingly merciless teacher but her acute attention to perfection meant she cultivated the most skilled protégés.

 

Odin was powerful because his mother was his teacher and Master. Frigga was the same for the same reasons.

 

Even still and even together, they could not match her skill.

 

Unfortunately, as a mother, she was soft. And even more so after Loptr’s and Borr’s death. Odin knew this and took advantage of it, all the time.  Therefore, Sigrdrifa had been waiting for this day for years.

 

Odin, in her opinion, was such a brat. A true God of Chaos but he was rarely punished for his antics. Bestla even forgave him for the War on Jotunheimr after what Sigrdrifa felt was a weak punishment. Even Borr, who never suffered a fool, turned a blind eye to the bedlam Odin and Loptr caused because of his love for Bestla.

 

Of course, the Late King regretted his leniency when Loptr was murdered. 

 

But by that time it was too late.

 

Sigrdrifa watched her Queen become more graceful in her anger, and inwardly hoped that the flame of her fury did not die before Odin arrived at the palace. She really wanted to see the King of Asgard put in his place. So she asked

 

“Should I send a carriage to the Bi-Frost, your Majesty?”

 

Bestla paused to consider the request and then answered “No…not this time. They do not deserve the courtesy of my hospitality.” She then turned toward the direction of her private hall. “Send them to me when they arrive… and let them know that I am very displeased.”

 

The former Valkyire, now Lady in Waiting smiled. “Yes, your Grace. I will do just that.”

 

 

TBC


	5. A Love Not Chosen: Odin & Laufey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever wonder why Laufey tried to conquer Midgard? The reason is not what you think.

A Love Not Chosen: Odin & Laufey

 

By Babychan

 

When Odin and Frigga stepped out of the Bi-Frost, the King took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air and raised his face toward the sky so that he could feel the light fall of snow. When the gentle flakes kissed his skin, he felt a sense of peace by the mere fact that he had returned to the home of his childhood.

 

When Frigga stepped out of the Bi-Frost, the Queen looked around and noticed there were neither a horse nor a hover-carriage to assist their travel to the palace.  Frigga surmised that her mother-in-law’s anger had reached a 10 out of 10 and decided that a little walk… was a good thing because at least it gave her a little bit longer to live…pain free.

 

It wasn’t until Odin looked over at his wife, who, unlike him, was bundled in her heaviest and warmest cloak and frowning, did he remembered that this was not a pleasure trip and that he was actually in trouble with his mother.

 

Still, a part of him was glad to be home.

 

Gladsheim was Asgard’s first real city and the birthplace of Asgard’s technological age.

 

Before then, this father Borr and his grandfather, Buri, ruled from transient camps, which roamed the lands of Asgard. The royal party would follow the hunt or move according to whatever current battle they were fighting.  During those archaic times, one’s life purpose was to acquire and celebrate the Three “F’s’, which were fighting, food and fucking. That was the life of the average Asgardian and they were pleased with it, for they, and Buri’s noble followers, were not the pampered royals they are today. They were hardened warriors.

 

However, when Borr fell in love with Bestla everything changed.

 

Mostly for the fact that Bestla was not used to that mercenary life-style.

 

And she refused to get used to it.

 

Bestla was used to a life of finery and luxury, for she was a Princess from Jotunheimr, and Jotunns lived in beautiful and intricately designed crystal cities (though this truth is mostly forgotten by Asgardians  due to the forced embargo placed on the frozen realm). What is more, Jotunns were not only known for their wisdom and intelligence, they were also revered for their artistry and technological achievements.  

 

“By the Norns, I’m freezing!!” Frigga groused through chattering teeth as they reluctantly made their way to the Palace. She huddled closer to her husband. “Have I told you how glad I am that you moved the Capital to Valaskjalf?”

 

“Only every time we visit here.” Odin smiled as he pulled her closer to him and rubbed her back and arms. He wore a light cloak over his armor but he was not cold. In truth, due to his Jotunn blood, beyond feeling more comfortable, he could not even feel the drop in temperature.

 

Gladsheim was the only place in Asgard, the land of eternal summer, which snowed.  Which was _cold_ enough to snow. The rest of the land was too uncomfortable for the Jotunn Queen, and that was the reason why his father, King Borr, built the first palace and the original capital here.

 

Odin had heard stories about the Royals protesting Gladsheim as the central location for Asgard. It seemed the Royal gods of summer did not want to live in a land of eternal winter.  Unfortunately for them, when the complaints reached his father, Borr addressed the objections by crushing the dissenters and their faction.

 

He _literally_ crushed them into pulp and bone dust.

 

Needless to say the movement ended quite abruptly.

 

No one knew at the time, because his marriage to Bestla was still young, that the only person whose opinion Borr cared about was his wife’s. She was also the only person he was kind to. Borr loved, but did not even like, his own children. He saw the four young princes as competition for her attention and therefore they were continuously sent on many different and difficult quests to “build their character”.

 

However, in truth, Borr just wanted some alone time with this wife.

 

It was just an inadvertent bonus that his boys’ adventures filled up Asgard’s vaults with many unique, powerful, and priceless treasures.

 

Nevertheless, Odin loved his father, admired the way he ruled, and considered him a Great King. However, he did have one wish growing up and that was for his father to have reigned in some of his mother’s obsessive need to control _everything._

Sure, it was under her guidance that Asgard left the Stone Age and became technologically advanced.

 

But, in Odin’s not so humble opinion, she was so…..

 

So…..

 

Like him.

 

This was why Odin left Gladsheim in the first year of his reign and moved Asgard’s Capital to Valaskjalf—the hottest place in the entire realm— and built his palace, quite literally, on the very edge of Asgard and the furthest point from his mother’s palace.

 

The king was brought out of his memories once they reached the private entrance of the Main Gates.

 

Immediately, Odin and Frigga turned to face one another, clasped each other’s hand and quietly re-affirmed their pact to stick together and support each other through Bestla’s verbal—possibly physical— beating.

 

They could do this.

 

They could finally…maybe… win against Bestla, but only if they stuck together.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Even though they knew the way to Former Queen’s private chambers, Odin and Frigga were formally led by Sigrdrifa, a former Valkyrie, Bestla’s Lady in Waiting, and her most trusted servant.

 

“Sit. Down.”  Was the frigid, royal command immediately after they stepped inside of Bestla’s informal entertainment room.

 

After handing over his cloak to Sigrdrifa, and ignoring her smug smirk, Odin glanced around the vast chamber looking for his children. He could tell by his mother’s no-nonsense tone that she was furious and he needed a shield to buffer his mother’s anger.  Odin learned, long ago, that his mother always pretended to be calmer when his children were present.

 

Unfortunately, he found not a hair of either of them in the vast room.

 

When Frigga followed her husband, after politely handing her heavy cloak to Sigrdrifa, she searched for a lit fire in either a pit or chimney. When she found neither, and also realized that the room was significantly colder than it was outside, Frigga realized she was being punished.  She glanced toward her mother-in-law, who met her gaze icily, then quickly glanced at her husband’s back and sent a silent apology. Pact or no Pact, Odin was going to be on his own.

 

 

Unaware of his wife’s perfidy, Odin paused only slightly when he saw his mother. She was sitting, like a queen on a throne, in an oversized, high-back and ornately designed chair.  She wore a richly embroidered white gown, as she always did, for she had never stopped mourning her late husband and son. However, what was most noticeable was that she wore her Jotunn skin, complete with impressive gold-gilded horns.

 

This was bad.

 

She only shifted when she was furious because even in Gladsheim, Asgard was too hot for her natural skin.

 

Nevertheless, and ever the dutiful son, Odin leaned in and gave his mother a kiss on her cheek. The contact made his own skin shift slightly, raising the single Familial Line of this mother’s House.

 

When he started to pull back, Bestla reached up and tenderly cupped his cheek with her hand. Her ruby eyes followed the Legacy on his face before she, not so gently, pushed his head away and informed. “You’re in trouble you know?”

 

“Not too much, I hope.” Odin chuckled in false mirth as he quickly made his way to the furthest seat away from her.

 

Bestla did not laugh with him because she was not amused. Her gaze then found her daughter-in-law. “Frigga…”

 

Before the former Queen could voice her displeasure, the current Queen hurriedly responded, most humbly, with the most deep and sincere of bows, “Your Majesty.”

 

Odin looked at his wife, as she held her armor-clad gown most submissively in both hands, and blinked hard once… then twice for he was shocked at her sycophant behavior. “What the Hel was that?” He thought but did not dare voice.

 

Bestla calmly stared at the blond beauty in front of her for a full minute, but Frigga refused to stop submitting and raise her eyes to her. So without a reprimand, the Former Queen told Frigga to take a seat.  

 

The Goddess walked slowly as she fought to contain her inner giddiness at leaving the first confrontation unscarred both emotionally and physically. She refused to look at Odin, even as she sat beside him on the settee, because she knew he was going to play the “betrayed card” and, right now, she didn’t care.

 

“Wodan.”

 

The man in question shifted his gaze away from his wife and toward his mother as he tried not to hold his breath in fear. His mother pronounced his name in Jotunn.  When she did this, it never boded well for him. “Yes, mother?”

 

“After the children arrived and explained to me _why_ they had come, I was very disappointed in you.”  She then looked at Frigga and amended. “In the both of you.”

 

When Odin tried to explain his rational to why he told Loki the abbreviated version of his homecoming, Bestla made a small gesture with her fingers and silenced him with a painful shot of seidhr that felt as if she were burning the very marrow of his bones.

 

“That’s… new…” He gasped and doubled over in pain as he inwardly cursed his useless armor.

 

Bestla did not react to his comment, mostly for it was wrong. She had known that spell for centuries. She just never had a reason to use it on him until now.

 

“Wodan… Let me be clear,” She leaned forward slightly. “I will tell you when it is your turn to speak. Understand?”

 

When he gave a painful nod, she sat back and released the spell with a small elegant gesture of her fingers.

 

“Now…” She continued in a royal drawl, “I did not call you here to tell you how to raise your children…But surely you must be aware that a child’s behavior is a direct reflection of their parent’s influence.”

 

“Are you suggesting… that we are bad parents?” Frigga timidly questioned as she tried her damnedest to keep the offense out of her tone.  She knew she was pushing her luck by speaking out-of-turn, but she also knew that she was a _good mother_.

 

“Are you?” Bestla countered in a warning tone. “Let’s see… how many times have your children ran-away from you now?” She raised her hand to start counting the occurrences on her fingers.

 

“With all due respect, Mother-in-Law” Frigga pressed. “They have never actually “ _ran-away_ ” as they were sneaking out to seek a grand adventure that they _knew_ we would not yet approve of.”  Unlike Borr, she did not say, who would have helped his sons reach the bottom of a canyon by throwing them off a cliff and excusing his abuse by claiming broken bones built character.  

 

“Except this time.” Bestla informed coldly. “This time Loki and Thor were running away from _you_. From the both of you.”

 

In Frigga’s opinion, it would have been kinder to be punished as Odin was with torturous seidhr than hear that her children were rejecting her.  Bestla knew this, for the Former Queen was always aware of other’s weaknesses and always chose the most deadly and effective weapons to ensure victory.

 

“I cannot even pretend to understand the purpose of your lies.” The Jotunn beauty continued, “But I do know that you will remedy them today.”

 

“Mother… may I speak?”

 

Crimson eyes gazed at her son in reluctant approval of his respect as she nodded permission.

 

“I have not lied!” Odin challenged with the authority of a King.

 

“Really?” Bestla drawled disappointedly as he glared at her son.

 

“Really.” He haughtily assured, not realizing he was walking into a trap.

 

“Not even when I asked if you could locate my Brother-in-Laws head?”

 

Odin opened his mouth to respond, then shut it with a click of his teeth after his brain processed what he just heard. His one good eye widened in fear, as the cap over the other threatened to fall from his face. “I…I..I can explain…” The white-haired man stuttered as he put his hands up in defense. “Mother…. I can explain!”

 

“Your chance to justify your actions passed the day you told me you knew not where he was.” She scowled as she smoothly stood up and positioned herself into a deceptively relaxed looking battle stance.

 

Odin’s brow rose in fear and he found himself scooting back into his seat with nowhere to go. “I..I..I needed him!” He pitifully admitted. “I needed him to teach me how to rule and Father was gone!” Odin almost cried as he felt his mother’s magical fire enter his bones once again, but the pain did not stop him from choking out,  “And Laufey…. wasn’t even listening to Uncle’s advice! It would have been wasteful to leave him in Jotunheimr when…when…his wisdom would be appreciated in Asgard!”

 

Bestla did not share how offended she was by Odin’s declaration and complete dismissal of the fact that _she_ was the one who actually ruled Asgard when Borr reigned as King. Instead, she let her seidhr do the talking before she told him the three worded and most dreaded command.

 

“Get. The. Belt.”

 

Both Odin’s and Frigga’s eyes tripled in size.

 

She was going to spank him!

 

He hadn’t gotten a spanking since… The War with Jotunheimr.

 

“Mother…” The All Father started to object as he slowly stood up and even more slowly made his way toward the chest that kept his father’s belt.  “I must protest. I am your King!”

 

“You are my son.” She reminded, “ _My King_ was your Father.” Then, in a roar that would have made a Berserker pause, she commanded, “Now bring me the belt because I did not raise a thief and I most definitively did not raise a child who would boldly lie to my face!” When he opened the chest she added, “The gauntlets too! I want to make sure you remember this lesson!”

 

Standing and observing against the wall, Sigrdrifa was doing everything she could not to laugh-out-loud when Odin began to whimper.

 

Borr’s belt and gauntlets were magical creations used to increase the strength of the wearer. Of course, Bestla found out early in Odin’s life that she did not have to actually wear the belt if she wore the gauntlets. Having the belt in her gloved hand assured the magic’s effectiveness as it concerned dispensing out punishment.

 

After Odin reluctantly retrieved the objects of his butt’s destruction, he noticed his former childhood nemesis’ poorly concealed glee and his wife’s silent shock at witnessing what was usually a private punishment.

 

“Mother...” He whined with drooped shoulders, “at least leave me my dignity!” He gestured toward the other two women in the room. He may not be his mother’s King but he was theirs.

 

Bestla considered the request before she asked Frigga, “Did you know of Mimir’s location?” If she did, she was going to get a beating too.

 

Frigga frantically shook her head no and traitorously blurted out. “I would have told you, my Queen!”  Inwardly, she thanked the Norns Odin kept this secret from her.

 

Bestla bestowed an intense glare at her to determine if the current Queen spoke the truth. When she found her answer, she gestured for the two women to leave, but commanded them to wait in the corridor, as this punishment should not take long.

 

As it turned out, it took a fairly long time to get Odin to confess and understand that he was wrong for stealing, lying, and hurting his aunt by keeping her husband’s head, especially when he knew how desperately she wanted him back. It took even more time for him to understand _why_ he was wrong.

 

The whole experience made Bestla question her own parenting skills because Odin had no apparent moral code except the philosophy of “I do what I want.”

 

By the time they were finishing up Odin’s punishment, the evening had turned into a late morning.

 

Ever the benevolent mother, Bestla gave Odin a few moments to collect himself before he was told to let his wife back into the room. Despite this generosity, when he opened the door, he was still blotchy faced and sniffling back tears.

 

If it wasn’t for the pain, he would feel ashamed.

 

Though he knew that the shame would come later.

 

It always did.

 

When Frigga noticed her husband wore no armor, she silently asked him if he was okay.

 

He gave her a  “what do you think” glare as an answer.

 

 It made her feel not so sorry for him as she walked back into the room.

 

Sigrdrifa only stayed long enough to ask if she could check on the sleeping princes. She knew she was only seconds from laughing outright and she had to get out of there before she offended her Mistress by showing amusement at the plight of her crybaby son.

 

However, that did not stop everyone in the room from hearing her laughter echo loudly as she walked down the grand corridor.

 

When Odin threw a betrayed look at his mother, she told him that he only had himself to blame.  Bestla then told them to take a seat because she was not finished with them yet.

 

A task easier for Frigga than it was for Odin.

 

As Bestla re-took her seat in her high-back chair, she shifted back into her Asgardian form. Apparently, whipping Odin was cathartic because she was no longer as angry as she was last night. However, she was still disappointed in them.

 

“As I said before, I am not going to tell you how to raise your own children.” She then looked knowingly at Odin “But _you_ are my son, and I did not raise a liar.”

 

“I did not lie!”

 

“Wodan… Do I need to ask Frigga to step into hall again?”  When he looked away and shook his head, the Former Queen continued. “In truth, it does not matter if you lied or not because your answers were inadequate. Loki now believes he has other parents on Jotunheimr and he wants to know who they are. ”

 

“Why would he want to know them?” Odin doubted. “He believes himself to be abandoned. That right there makes _us_ the _best parents_!”

 

“Is that why…” She stopped her words and shook her head at their idiocy.  “You wanted him to see you as some kind of hero?!”

 

Frigga and Odin showed a flicker of embarrassed regret. Their plan sounded so…selfish and ridiculous the way Bestla worded it.

 

“Because of your lies…” The Queen Mother continued with a huff, “Loki wants to know not only who forsake him but _why_ he was abandoned.”

 

Frigga and Odin looked worriedly at each other for this was not part of their plan. Loki was just supposed to be happy and grateful that he was a prince and live happily ever after.

 

“Well…It’s not like he will find out it’s Laufey” Odin assured Frigga, “He doesn’t even know where to look!” He then looked fearfully has his mother. “Unless _you_ told him!”

 

“I don’t have to tell him anything,” Bestla replied, rolling her eyes at her son’s accusation.  “You know, as I do, that he has an eidetic memory, and he has seen his own Legacy Lines… it is only a matter of time before he associates them with their resemblance to his uncle Loptr’s and Great Uncle Mimir.” She pointed to a large tapestry of Loptr in his natural Jotunn form standing beside Odin who was manifesting his Lines in his Asgardian skin.  It was no secret that Loptr was Mimir’s son even though the late prince considered Borr his father. “Loki is an overly intelligent child, Odin. He is going to figure it out!”

 

“Then… I will just tell him…” Odin searched the room for an answer until his gaze fell on his brother’s tapestry. “I’ll tell him that Loptr was his Dam! It’s not that far from the truth! Loptr was Laufey’s “twin” after all.”

 

Bestla closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled deeply while unconsciously changing back into her true form. “Frigga… please step outside. I need to ‘talk’ to my son.”

 

When Odin reached over and grabbed his wife’s hand, the current Queen looked at her husband, silently mouthed, “I’m sorry”, and pried her hand out of his.

 

Of course, her apology did nothing to stop his piercingly, betrayed glare as Odin watched her disappear through the door.

 

When Frigga heard the first slap of the belt, this time, it sounded like it met the very flesh of his butt. When Odin started to beg for forgiveness for an offence he did not even understand he committed, Frigga tuned out the sounds of his punishment with  thoughts about her children, and the fact that despite gaining the title of _All Mother_ , she had no children from her own body.

 

Unknown to all but Odin and Bestla, Frigga was barren.

 

However, she was not born that way. In the youth of her life, Laufey had cursed Frigga with infertility, in a fit of jealousy, because he noticed Odin’s attraction towards her.

 

Well, actually he caught Frigga and Odin in bed together, and the Vanir witch was unfortunately caught in the crossfire and wounded by a spell meant for the half- Jotunn Asgardian prince.

 

At the time, Odin and Laufey were betrothed to each other (and had been since before they were born) through a Blood Pact made by their mothers’.

 

The two future Kings grew up visiting each other regularly, for they were not only bonded to marry but first-cousins due to their mothers’ being twins. They had a strong familial love, but they were not in _romantic love_ , as they both considered themselves Sires. However, as royal heirs to the throne, they knew their duties to their crown and realm and they were resigned to the fate of their up-coming nuptials.

 

Ironically, despite the lack of romance, the two were also obsessively possessive of one another because they both accepted, and prized, the obligation of their betrothal regardless of their lack of physical attraction.

 

However, what Laufey did not know was that, at the time, Odin only noticed Frigga because Loptr, his most favorite and beloved brother noticed her and he wanted to keep her away from Loptr.

 

Odin did not want to share… his bother, for the youngest prince had a severe brother complex.

 

In truth, Odin did not even want to share Loptr with Laufey, who was technically also Loptr’s brother, through a one-time skin-ship between Bestla and Laufey’s late sire, King Mimir.

 

The love Odin felt for Frigga came later; however, it was triggered _because_ of his fiancé’s unjust attack on her.

 

When Odin started to focus pure romantic intentions toward Frigga, Laufey felt justified to secretly court Farbauti, whose romantic company he truly cherished. When Farbauti confided that he was with child, Laufey quickly used Odin’s not so secret relationship with Frigga as an excuse to break their sacred engagement against the will and favor of both their families. 

 

What is more, by blaming Odin, Laufey was able to marry Farbauti without shame or censure and their secret love-child was accepted by the populace as an Heir to the Throne and not an unfortunate bastard.

 

In all truth, the people of Jotunheim were very pleased with Laufey’s chosen spouse. Farbauti was not only a full-blooded Jotunn (though they pretended not to care about that) the Bearer was also learned, traveled, beautiful, and one of realm’s top royal advisors. However, Odin was all of those things as well, except beautiful, due to his pink flesh and his strange affinity for growing hair on his face. 

 

Still, what made the people of Jotunhiem favor Laufey’s chosen union the most was the fact that Farbauti was a True Bearer.

 

On the other hand, Odin was a Sire.

 

And Laufey was a Sire as well.

 

And despite that both Sires had all the necessary parts to bear a child, neither had any desire to “take one” for the realm.  

 

Unfortunately, Odin, who was actually relieved to be free of the betrothal pack with Laufey, was still upset by the way the relationship ended.

 

And this disfavor was the “Sown Seed” to the two realms’ future problems.

 

Odin did not like being portrayed as the “bad guy”, especially since he and Laufey had an understanding in regards to having an open-relationship, seeing how they were both Sires, and sex was not something they enjoyed with each other.

 

 However, Odin was most furious at the fact that he wasn’t able to dump Laufey _first_.

 

It was a matter of pride.

 

So to spite Laufey, Odin married Frigga, (though by this point he truly loved her) and he made a big point of letting all the Nine Realms know that he went against the Blood Oath of their engagement _first_ because of his love for his Vanir bride.

 

He also made sure to have a much more grandiose wedding than Laufey’s, which included a reception that commemorated the matrimonial union in a yearlong celebration. 

 

And if that wasn’t enough, Odin invited his Ex to be one of his groomsmen.

 

Not his best man, of course, because that title belonged to his beloved brother Loptr.

 

Laufey would have a spot after Vili, (his oldest brother from his father’s first marriage) and Ve (his second oldest brother from his father’s first marriage).

 

Odin reveled in the fact that Laufey, who first rejected the invitation, would have to be in the wedding party because Odin was the Crown Prince, Future King of Asgard and, most importantly, because they were cousins.

 

Laufey could not refuse.

 

Their parents wouldn’t let him.

 

Not after he dumped Odin the way he did.

 

Odin’s marriage to Frigga was accepted favorably by all Asgardian, as they did not want to lose their favorite prince to the realm of Jotunheimr (as was the condition in the first engagement, seeing how Borr had three other son’s, where Mimir only had one.). Also, though not a princess, Frigga was a high ranking Vanir noble, a high ranking Asgardian officer in the Queen’s Army, and a much more affable person than Laufey, who in the opinion of Asgard’s people was a pretentious snob, who always looked down at them as if they were ignorant bugs.

 

Laufey only attended the wedding and the seemingly “never-ending reception” long enough to be acceptable and then made a big show of leaving by making sure Odin knew that he was going home to be a witness to the _birth of his son_. The Jotunn King then gave Frigga a hateful, knowing smirk before he once again made a big production about being a new _father_ and how much fun it was going to be when his _child was born_.

 

Laufey’s bragging made Odin’s “Seed of Anger” grow roots.

 

When Helblindi, First Divine Child of Jotunheimr, was introduced to the Nine Realms, Odin was forced to accompany his father to the icy realm to visit, give tribute, and bless the child, as was his duty as Heir to Asgard’s Throne.

 

Odin did not want to, but his father was a force that could only be tamed by his mother.  Moreover, his mother wanted him to go. Laufey was still his cousin, after all.

 

Borr reminded his son that broken engagement or not, Laufey was the King of Jotunheimr and his son was the future heir. It was his duty, as the crowned prince, to strengthen their alliance.

 

When Odin first laid eyes on the full-blooded Jotunn babe, he thought him beautiful, strong, and everything he wanted for his own child. It made him so fiercely jealous that he wanted to kill the child, or at least Farbauti _, the whore_ , for bearing such perfect progeny. So when it was his turn to congratulate Laufey, his Ex, and cousin, Odin verbally scoffed at the child and claimed it to be barely passable for even the lowest of Jotunn peasants. 

 

His father was pissed.

 

But Odin did not care.

 

Ironically, it was at this celebration, and while he was trying to evade his father’s wrath, that Odin met Jord.

 

She was lovely, as most Jotunn bearers tended to be, and she was powerful in elemental magic, which was a unique plus. She would have been a good match aesthetically, if he were looking for a Jotunn second wife to compete with Farbauti’s looks.

 

But he wasn’t, and… Frigga was beautiful… in her own Vanir way.

 

Odin wanted something else.

 

Something that would make Laufey suffer as much as he was. 

 

Odin wanted a son.

 

A better son than that “ugly” Helblindi.

 

Fortunately, Jord was the perfect candidate to give it to him, for she had low morals and was willing to trade children for favors. Even better was the fact that Jord was cheap for all she wanted was the title of Goddess of Migard, a ratchet, useless realm, whose inhabitants lived no longer than mayflies. She also wanted Asgard’s promise to help her keep that title by formally giving that title and the Duty of Protector to the child she bore as well.

 

When Odin relayed the Conditions of the Covenant to Frigga, the two royals agreed readily because no one even wanted that useless realm, thus the Duty of Protector would be no hardship to their child.

 

When Thor was born, Odin thought he was the most gorgeous Jotun baby this side of Vahalla.

 

Waaaay better looking than Helblindi.

 

Odin could not wait to show him off.

 

However, when he snuck his child into his parent’s palace and inside his wedding chambers, Frigga, who had already known of his plan and had pretended to be pregnant these past 90 years, adopted Thor with a blood magic so strong, it stripped the babe of his cobalt skin, his black hair, his dual sex, and his Familial Lines.

 

When it was over, Thor looked like an Asgardian/Vanir hybrid.

 

Odin, who had never seen or heard of such a spell, cried.

 

Not because he lost his perfect child.

 

Because Thor was still perfect even if he was now half Vanir, a quarter Asgardian and a quarter Jotunn,

 

It was just as a Jotunn…to be forced into another skin. . . . To loose your Lines… it was not right.

 

Not right at all.

 

Odin could not imagine _not_ having his lines for they honored his Legacy.

 

When Odin presented Thor to the Nine Realms, he was pleased by Laufey’s apparent anger at Frigga’s obvious maternity and gifted child bearing, and he only felt slightly stung when his Ex derisively commented on the lack of Thor’s Familial Lines. However, Odin felt vindicated at Laufey’s displeasure when his child was gifted with the realm of Midgard for merely being born.

 

All Helblindi got was a _stupid_ blessing.

 

Therefore, Odin should have known that Laufey would have tried to conquer it, just so Thor, child of Frigga, wouldn’t have it.

 

However, during Laufey’s “spiteful tantrum” what the cousins least expected was for their beloved brother Loptr, to be murdered by dwarves while they were fighting on Midgard for a realm no one wanted.

 

Then to make matters even worse, Odin’s father died from the injuries he incurred after he, in a berserker rage, single handedly declared, _and won_ , a war for the unjust murder of Loptr, Prince of Asgard, against the dwarves.

Theprice of the wergild for Loptr’s life included the emptying of every single gold coffer in the kingdom of Skaldskaparmal, and the eradication of Sindri’s and Brokkr’s dwarven race.

 

The gold was so abundant that a small portion would later be used to build Odin’s future palace as an ostentatious reminder and warning for the rest of the realms’, to respect and fear Asgard’s might.

 

The death of King Borr and Prince Loptr stopped the War, for both were deeply loved by both the Realms of Asgard and Jotunheimr. The mourning and the peace lasted for almost one hundred years and only resumed after Odin found out, from a vision not so subtly shared by Frigga, that he seeded a child with Laufey during a moment of ultimate weakness and shared grief.

 

After barely escaping Frigga’s fury, for his adulterous affair with her #1 enemy, he confronted his Ex and demanded custody.

 

Actually… he demanded full custody, per Frigga’s order, since Laufey took her ability to bear children away from her in a hateful and unjust fit of temper.

 

Laufey, who already loved this child of his body, refused Odin’s claim and spat on the insinuation of Frigga’s parental rights over the child.

 

It was an awful and violent scene, as it was purposefully done in front of Farbauti.  Odin wanted his child, without shared custody, so he made it known to his Ex’s spouse that despite, no, _in spite_ of their disgraceful affair, _he_ was the first that Laufey accepted into his body, and that it was _his_ seed that has taken root in the King of Jotunheimr, thus making _his_ child the rightful heir and not that “ugly” Helblindi.

 

His plan was to make Farbatui fear for his child’s succession rights and angry enough to force Laufey to give the child to Odin.

 

Unfortunately, Odin’s antagonizing backfired and before that day, Farbatui, who was only well known for being a high scholar and capable politician was feared as a very skilled and very deadly warrior.

 

And in the midst of that domestic battle…

 

Laufey went into hiding.

 

 And Odin…

 

Ignored all the Rules of War and took the recently ended War for Midgard to the land of his ancestors so that he could secretly search for his child.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Frigga left her thoughts about those irrational times when she heard the door open once again.  To say she was shocked by what she saw was an understatement. Odin looked so pitiful and so…small as he tried to bravely control his tears. She did not ask after his health this time. Instead, she silently followed him as he slowly and painfully shuffled back to his seat.

 

As Frigga took her place beside him, she braved a glance toward her mother-in-law and noticed not a hair out of place on her elegant head. The Queen Mother did not even look to be out of breath as she calmly watched them from her grand chaise, which was a feat considering how beat-up Odin appeared. Bestla was also, once again, in her Aseir form, which meant she had calmed down considerably.

 

“Frigga.” The former queen began in a no-nonsense tone, as she pinned the current queen with an unforgiving glare. “While you were in the corridor, your idiot husband and I were discussing your youngest and the circumstances of the child’s birth.”

 

Frigga nodded as she too was thinking about the birth of both her children.

 

“As I have just reminded my…son,” Bestla pursed her lips as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth.  “You are a good mother and a more patient, and forgiving wife than I could have ever been to my beloved Borr.”

 

Frigga blushed and whispered, “Thank you,” at the rare praise.

 

“Don’t thank me just yet.” The raven-haired woman assured with cold fury.

 

The former queen then looked at Odin and told him flatly. “Child, you are horrible. You are lucky that I adore you, for you have no remorse for the damage you have caused to our ancestors’ realm or the pain your infidelity has caused your wife.”

 

This time they both blushed, but Frigga, who was bolstered by Bestla’s flattery, spoke in defense of her husband. “His… indiscretions … I knew it would happen before hand...” The seer looked at her husband forgivingly. “I allowed it because I knew the end result and I wanted--”

 

“The children.” Bestla interrupted deceptively empathetic. “Yes, I know. I don’t fault you for that… considering… but now that Loki knows that he has another Dam how do you plan on introducing him to Laufey?”

 

“Excuse me?…”  Frigga responded dumfounded, then continued with bold indignation after she mentally processed the question. “Why would I introduce them?

 

 “Why, you ask?” Bestla inquired, giving Frigga a queer look.  “Because Loki wants to meet his Dam? That’s why.”

 

Frigga shot to her feet and yelled, “Laufey doesn’t _deserve_ to meet _my_ son!” Just as Odin roared, “I refuse to allow this, not after Laufey _stole_ him from me!

 

Bestla gave her son’s fury a bored look, while she placed her elbow on the arm of her chair and rested her cheek to her fist. “Biological gestation is not exactly thievery, Odin.”

 

“Laufey was not going to tell me about Loki!” He yelled while pointing at her accusingly. “He was going to try to pass _my child_ off as that “other’s” spawn!” He hated Farbauti too much to even say the name.

 

“Would you have told Laufey, if it was you who became pregnant?” Bestla prodded because through her sister, she found out that that scenario could have been a definite possibility.   


“Of course not!” Odin spat.

 

“Why?” She asked.

  
Odin glared at his mother as if the answer was obvious, then scoffed. “Because I would kill Farbuati before I would allow him to raise my child!”

 

Bestla gave her son a disappointed press of her lips. “Odin, how long will you suffer this slight of rejection? How many millinia will it take for you to be happy with the life you were allowed to choose for yourself and not desire the unhappy past forced on you by your parents?”

 

Frigga looked at her husband and wondered the same thing. She did not want Laufey or Farbuati in Loki’s life anymore than Odin, but her husband’s rejection to the idea seemed to be viscerally rooted in the fact that he was dumped _first_.

 

Odin ran his hands roughly through his hair and raked his fingers over his face before he admitted, “I don’t desire the past, and I don’t desire Laufey as a spouse.” He shook that awful thought out of his head, then he looked at his beloved wife and cupped her left cheek. “I don’t. I just hate Farbutai because he’s a whore.”

 

“And Farbutai hates you for the same reason.” His mother interrupted before Frigga could respond, “And Laufey hates Frigga, and Frigga hates both of them as well, but _all four of you_ need to get over it!”

 

Frigga was going to deny Bestla’s claims but decided not to contest the truth. Instead she asked, “Why do we have to get over it?”

 

“I’m glad you asked.” Bestla drawled approvingly with an elegant clap of her hand. “Because we are reopening the gates to Jotunheimr, giving back that damned Casket and giving Loki the chance to know his mother.” Bestla answered as if those were the most obvious solutions of all.

 

“His _mother_ is _Frigga_!”  Odin roared in unison with Frigga’s, “ _I’m his mother_!”

 

“Of course you are, dear.” The former Queen agreed with the current before she amended her words to her son, “His bearer then.”

 

“I refuse.” Both Frigga and Odin said in unison.

 

“Too bad.” Was the raven-haired beauty’s response.

 

“Mother… you can’t do this…”

 

But Bestla ignored her son’s pleas and said, “Do you know what they call a person who loses a child against their will?” When they did not answer, she answered for them with tears in her eyes. “Nothing! There is no word to describe that torture! We have words to describe a person who lost a spouse and a word for children who lost parents but none for a parent who lost children!” She elegantly wiped her eyes and stared at the tapestry of Loptr. “I am done with this cruelty. _We_ are done with it.”

 

“But you knew this would happen when you allowed me to keep Loki.” Odin implored as he reached for Frigga’s hand.  This time she held his back.

 

“Yes… but I was irrationally angry then.” Bestla sniffed snobbishly and flipped her hair back off her shoulder. “And…My nephew made me really loose my temper when he broke your engagement, so I turned a blind eye to your behavior… But now…” She shook her head and closed her eyes to hide her sorrow. “We’re family, Odin... We are all we have…we should not be fighting like this…. so now, you have to be the bigger man and at least allow Loki to chose for himself if he wants Laufey in his life.”

 

Both Odin and Frigga shook their head no. They could not agree with this.

 

When the two remained unmoved by her words, Bestla narrowed her gaze at them and stated, “I’m sorry…. maybe you did not hear me when I said that I wasn’t angry anymore and my nephew is suffering because his child was stolen from him.”

 

“I’m sorry, Queen Dam.” Frigga stated as respectfully as she could manage considering the current topic. “But I don’t care about Laufey’s sorrow. His tears could fill the Hvergelmir Springs a hundred times over, and I would still not consider giving Laufey my son!”

 

“And that is why I like you, so very much.” Bestla admitted, then restated. “But I was never suggesting you give Loki up. Of Course not. Loki is ours…”There was a dangerous possessiveness in that statement. “But you’re still going to provide visitation because what you are doing is cruel. And Frigga, you are not a cruel person.”

 

“Yes I am.”

 

“No, you’re not. You are the Goddess of Motherhood, and you _know_ this is wrong. I am giving you the opportunity to release this guilt.”

 

 

For the first time during this confrontation, Frigga met Bestla’s eyes boldly. “I’d rather feel guilty than share him.”

 

Bestla gave her daughter-in-law a searching look and found truth in her eyes. She then rose her hands in surrender. “Then, for now… just the Casket will be relinquished.”  She rose from her seat and made her way to walk out of the room  “But remember… because of your lies, Loki now believes he is adopted …And he _will_ find out that Laufey is his Dam, as his Lines are quite distinctive. Wouldn’t you rather dictate the terms of their relationship _before_ he sneaks down to Jotunheimr and becomes twisted by Laufey’s version of the truth? For I am sure my nephew’s story will be _much different_ than yours.”

 

Bestla did not bother waiting for their answer as she opened the grand door of her private chambers. “You have until the children are brought to you to make up your mind.”

 

When she was gone, and Frigga was sure she was gone, she turned to her husband and whispered, because one could never be too sure. “Have I told you how glad I am that you moved the Capital to Valaskjalf?”

 

Odin stood up, shuffled across the room, poked his head out of the door to check the corridor before he made his way back to his wife and whispered back. “Only every time we visit here.”

 

TBC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

AN:

I am sooooo sorry!! Without dragging you down with my own personal drama, I can only apologize for the delay and assure you that this story is not abandoned.  I have it all mapped out because I love this silly AU.  

 

And I also want to assure you that because the adults are so petty (LOL), _all the kids_ make out like….the spoiled little royalty they are. Especially Loki. ^_~

 

 

 

Hugs!

Babychan


	6. A Love Worth Co-Parenting For

A Love Worth Co-Parenting For

 By Babychan

 

 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Have you every wondered how Loki had so many children in such a short period of time?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

It took a little more than a decade before Odin and Frigga, painfully—both emotionally and physically— accepted that maybe Bestla’s unwarranted and completely unappreciated notion that Laufey had the right to know his child held an ounce— but no more— of merit. However, it took another decade before they started the child custody negotiation process.

 

A process that was, by the observing populous, more similar to War.

 

In a fairy tale or a myth of legend, the custody proceedings might have began after Loki discovered that he was the only child, born from the womb, of the Great King Laufey, thus legitimately making him the heir-apparent of the entire realm of Jotunheimr.

 

That may have been enticing to someone who wasn’t already a royal child and the possible heir-apparent to not only one realm but nine, including Jotunheimr—even though that icy realm ardently refuses to acknowledge that bit of truth.

 

In truth, Loki didn’t need to know his other parents— or parent, in this case. He

just wanted to know why he was given away.

 

Thanks to his Granddam, the princeling was content after finding out the truth of his birth from Odin, his true and blood related father and his mother, Frigga, who blood adopted him but loved him as if he came from her own body.

The knowledge that he was actually _wanted by all_ and that he was _stolen_ repaired his fragile and damaged ego.

 

He was also pleased to know that the last Great War, which started off as an attempt to steal Thor’s birthright, was mostly fought—the last 100 years or so— because of his parent’s (both Odin’s and Frigga’s) determination to find him, and his dam’s (Laufey’s) allowed sacrifice of his realm to keep him hidden.

 

It was exceedingly flattering to the young prince.

 

However, over the past two decades Loki had noticed a change in his parents’ behavior in the form of an unrelenting neediness for his love and devotion.

 

They tended to spoil him more, which he loved, but they were also more overprotective and demanding of this time, which he hated.

 

Loki was also under constant surveillance through use of charms weaved into his clothes and placed upon his skin, by his mother, dozens more guards assigned to “protect him” by his father, and he was subjected to additional rounds of observations by Heimdallr, which was enforced by both parents.

 

It was stifling for the 9-hunderd year old adolescent child who had a penchant for creating mischief.

 

It was even more oppressive— actually miserable— for Thor, who at 13-hundred and well immersed in the desires of puberty had been cut-off from his self-proclaimed queen. He could not even recall the year he last kissed his brother upon his sweet lips.

 

It was for this reason, Thor honestly felt as if he were dying from deprivation.

 

_(~In the heights of Yggdrasil, the Norns,_ _Verðandi and Skuld, laughed as they observed the young prince’s anguish and weaved Thor’s string of love toward his brother into a thread of obsession.~)_

 

During those two decades, Thor’s temper became a thing of legend. He was already a destructive child, when he didn’t get his way, but now there were tales of his cruelty.

 

Once, at a royal funeral for a distant ally of Asgard, he even kicked a dwarf into a fire pyre.

 

It was quite scandalous, since the dwarf did nothing but walk in front of him…with its girlfriend.

Or what passed as a girlfriend for dwarves.

 

However, Thor felt no remorse as the one left behind screamed accusations of murder towards him. In truth, he felt justified because since the murder of Loptr, it was within in his right to bestow any type of punishment upon that race, for none in Asgard regarded dwarves with any affinity.

 

Moreover, Thor couldn’t stand seeing a happy couple in his forlorn state.

 

Incidentally, it was during this royal funeral, in Niflheim for King Hades’ young daughter Hel, did Thor, who was not usually thought to be a mastermind, come up with the most wicked of ideas.

 

That idea was to bring back Borr— a man whose legendary position on child rearing started and ended with: _they can raise themselves_.

 

Thor needed his grandfather so that his parents would back off of Loki.

 

The idea for his great escape from parental rule came from a sophisticated and deliberate act of disobedience by Loki.

 

~~~

It started innocently enough.

 

Heimdallr informed Odin that Niflheim, a land of icy winds and volcanic lands, was suffering from a great fire. By the time Odin’s army was able to help subdue the fames, many of that realm’s living had perished.

 

This was an important distinction because Niflheim was the land of the dead.

One of the great losses to that fire was King Hades’ only daughter and heir, Hel.

 

When the mass funeral procession was announced, Odin sent his family, his wife and both his heirs, to represent Asgard, while he stayed behind and ruled the Nine.

 

This was seen by all the realms as a great form of respect and trust, because never before had the majority of the First Royal Family gathered in one public location, beyond the protected walls of Asgard.

 

When Loki found out that he was allowed to be a royal ambassador for Asgard, he asked his parents if he could wear his best clothes. Of course, that meant having something new made but that made no difference because his parents were granting him pretty much anything. However, when they denied him his favored ensemble of black and gold for his outfit— because black was not the color of mourning on Niflheim, white was— he then asked if he could wear his golden-fleece to make his bland white outfit “pop.”

 

Now it was only a few hundred years ago that Sleipnir was born from that cloth—which happened to have the power to raise the dead— and Loki, their mischievous yet lovable Loki, wanted to bring that dangerous item to the land of the dead.

 

Any rational parent would say no. Actually, they would have said, Hell No!

 

But when Loki cast a forlorn gaze at their gilded floor and sighed out, “ I wonder if my Dam would have let me wear it?” Odin and Frigga felt compelled to stay the “favored parents” and allowed him to wear the fleece against their better judgment.

 

All went well… at first.

 

Initially, Loki had no intention of using his fleece as anything more than, as Thor proclaimed, an accessory to his beauty.

 

Thor could not seem to stop gushing about his brother’s loveliness much to Loki’s pleasure and his parents, actually just Odin’s, consternation.

 

Frigga was Vanir, so she was okay with familial affection.

 

It was not until the private viewing of the deceased princess and after Loki saw Hel in the pyre for the first time, did all things start going to “hell in a hand basket.”

 

He couldn’t believe it…

 

She was just a child.

 

As young as him.

 

Younger even…. Probably not even 6-hundred years old.

 

As he walked closer to the pyre, he noticed that half of her body—the mortal half she inherited from her mother, Persephone— was ravaged by fire. The injuries were severe enough to extinguish the divinity she inherited from her father.  

 

Loki, who was still a child, did not understand how it was possible for a godling to die, even if she was a Halfling. He also did not understand how fire had hurt her.

 

With the revelation of who his dam was, Loki learned that he was a child of mostly ice, but surprisingly, he always had control over fire. It was such a rare ability for a frost giant that only his uncle Loptr, before him, had the ability to master both fire and ice.

 

(~ _It made people wonder and whisper if he was the reincarnated spirit of the murdered prince.~)_

 

Overwhelmed with the understanding that divine children could die, Loki fell to his knees in tears and would not leave the fallen princess.

 

It hurt her heart to see her child so distraught, and Frigga knelt down beside Loki, gathered him in her arms, and tried to comfort him.

 

Thor knelt beside Loki too, hugged him from the opposite side of his mother, and started to cry too. He hated to see Loki in pain.

 

“Little ones die too?” Loki hiccupped in a sorrowful voice.

 

“It is rare in our worlds but…sometimes…yes, it happens” Frigga answered with a mother’s love.

 

When he hugged both is mother and brother closer and sobbed harder, Frigga whispered an illegal truth in his ear, in hopes to reassure him. “But not you, or your brother, I made sure of it.”

 

The confession worked. Loki stopped crying and looked at his mother and asked “Because we’re yours?”

 

Frigga nodded solemnly.

 

He tilted his head to the side and asked. “So if Hel was mine, she could live?”

 

Frigga did not—could not— answer; Hel was not his child. But if she was….she would have been under the same illegal protective spells. She would have lived despite the fire.

 

“Mother…” Loki asked in a wobbly voice, once he realized he wouldn’t get a verbal answer in spite of the confirmation in her eyes. “Can you help me heal her?...Her wounds…She looks like she’s in pain.”

 

Frigga took a deep breath and gently responded, “We have to get permission from her parents first. They may have left her this way for a reason.”

 

Loki nodded at her answer, and then responded with a pitiful request, “Can you ask?”

 

The All-Mother gazed into the large, wet, emerald-eyes of her baby, then rested her forehead against his and whispered, “For you, anything.” As she stood up, she placed a gentle hand on Thor’s head and trustingly asked him to, “Watch over your brother while I speak Hel’s parents.”

 

“I will.” The older prince promised as he gave her a confident nod before he went back to embracing and comforting his sibling.

 

It was only after she almost reached Hades did she get a warning, a flash of a vision, which showed a raven-haired girl riding the back of an enormous wolf.

 

“What are they doing?!” Demeter and Hestia, the sisters of Hades, wondered aloud.

 

Immediately, the Queen of the Nine realized her mistake and that she should not have left Loki—and his golden-fleece— alone with that dead princess.

 

By the time Frigga turned around it, was too late. She should have known, by Odin’s own troubles in the Vault, that Loki does what he wants.

 

And apparently so does Thor.

 

And what they wanted was to make Hel theirs.

 

It was like the Queen of the Nine Realms was stuck in slow motion as she watched her oldest lift the youngest above the rim of the pyre and change the direction of everyone’s life… Forever.

 

As Frigga watched her disobedient children use the forbidden fleece on Hel, she simultaneously watched the threads, of once familiar visions of the future, sporadically unravel.

 

It was pure chaos.

 

Loki, who even at this young age knew way too much about forbidden magic, had placed his fleece over the young Hel, leaned over the pyre and blew a portion of his life into her body.

 

He had no fear of dying, his mother just told him his life was eternal.

 

What is more, ever since he found out about his own adoption, Loki had been curious about the process.

 

Through his research he learned that some were purely legal, bound by a signed paper and a sense of duty, others involved different variations of blood magic, which included a simple act of sharing blood from open wounds, to something more…dark.

 

There were many dark spells for adoptions and one was the sharing of life.

 

Breathing life into something made that “thing” your child.

 

It was a form of adoption that was usually used when a god “created” a child, usually from clay or something. It was not widely used because the creator had to sacrifice a portion of his or her own life, to bring life to another. On the other hand, and despite the rarity of its use, it was a widely known spell, which was favored and romanticized because _to give life_ to something was the greatest symbolization of love.

 

It was also uncontestable.

 

Frigga was both glad and disappointed that Odin had to remain in Asgard to govern the golden realm. If he was here… maybe he could have stopped this from happening.

 

Then again…. he was the one who retrieved the fleece from the Vault for Loki to wear.

 

Either way, she knew he was going to blame her for this, just as she blamed him for allowing Loki to touch the casket.

 

Frigga wished she were more forgiving because depending on how this turned out, Loki’s actions could be seen as an act of War.

 

Frigga walked briskly back toward her children— because running was beneath her station— as she watched Loki invoke that “spell of love.” However, even at her hurried pace, she knew she was too far away to stop him from finishing the incantation. What is more, when she glanced around at her surroundings, she realized she had not even moved an inch.

 

She was stuck in slow motion!

 

Time flowed differently on Niflheim, _the land of the dead_. Seconds could be hours, hours could be days, days could be weeks and weeks could be years, or vice versa. So while Frigga felt everything getting slower, everything around Loki, Thor and Hel sped up.

 

Therefore, instead of taking hours for the effects of the fleece to work, Hel immediately opened her eyes. What is more, the fleece not only gave her back her life, it healed her injuries completely. The only difference to her original appearance was her left eye, which was once removed by the fire. It was now emerald like her spontaneously adoptive parent. The other was still black as midnight like her father Hades.

Still in the arms of his brother, Loki twisted slightly, to face the crowd—who still had no clue to what he just did— straightened his back, lifted his chin, and stated imperiously. “I was within my right… because she is mine.”

 

“Ours!” Thor amended, because if Loki was going to claim something or someone as his child, he was going to be the other parent. Just like with Sleipnir.

 

“Ours.” Loki corrected with a royal nod.

 

Hel chose that next moment to sit up— like a caricature of a person returning from the dead— which resulted in a commotion of bedlam of epic proportions.

 

Frigga barely had time to gather her children, grab that twice-damned fleece, and call on Heimdallr to get them the Hell out of Niflheim.

 

Fortunately, the King of Death was so grateful to have his child alive and well, he wasn’t upset that Asgard owned an item that took away some of his authority. In his gratitude, he even relinquished a portion of his kingdom. He gave Odin the keys to the hall of Valhalla.

 

An event that secretly laid the foundations of Thor’s next steps.

 

Hades was circumspect of the two princes’ intentions with Hel. He wanted to know what the Asgardian’s meant by “She is ours.” However, when he found out Loki and Thor meant: _she is their daughter_ , thus making her an heir of Odin and a princess of the Nine Realms, Hades felt relieved and he greatly approved of the unexpected adoption for it expanded their territory by eight realms.

 

He even bragged about his good fortune to the Kings of the other realms. It was a political feat Hades never even dared to dream of.

 

Especially since everyone— besides Odin— knew that Thor was determined to marry Loki, thus making any unions through marriage impossible.

 

It wasn’t just the political benefits that made the Death King sanction the adoption. It was mostly because Loki cared enough about Hel, a child he had never met before her death, to share his life with her.

He trusted Loki.

 

So at 9-hundred years old, Loki, a child still residing in the nursery— of which he now realized he will probably never get out of— was a co-parent to the future queen of the Underworld.

 

Thor, who was only 300 years older happily, shared that responsibility. He was a good step-father too. He had to be, because Angrboða kept trying to step in and take his place.

 

The fire Jotun was one of Loki’s closest friends, but Thor was seriously starting not to like her. He even had to, pointedly, tell her to _back-off_ after Hel allowed Loki a choice-pick from the litter of puppies born from her royal hound Garmr, who was a direct descendant of her father’s divine hound, Cerberus.

 

Loki chose the runt of the litter—an act that made all the realms love him even more for his compassion—and named the pup Fenrir.

 

Angrboða, who fancied herself a master of husbandry, convinced Loki to feed the pup some of his magic to ensure he grew up big and strong. She also promised to help feed him, so he would grow up twice as strong.

 

It wasn’t long before Fenrir grew to unbelievable proportions and Odin had to investigate how it happened.

Once the mighty king realized what his child did, Loki, of course, got into a mild amount of trouble for not stopping the feeding process when Fenrir was obliviously not a runtling anymore. He was actually bigger than Sleipnir.

 

Angrboða was put on restriction for 10 years, in her homelands of Iron Wood, because with her expansive knowledge of husbandry, she actually new better than to feed a magical beast magic. It would have been longer, but Loki pleaded for his friend until his parents showed mercy.

 

Angrboða wisely kept the existence of Jörmungandr a secret. Not even Loki knew how big that child had gotten.

 

However, two unexpected things happened to Fenrir because of the magical feedings.

 

The first was that it produced a magical adoption, and because of the unexpected magical bond, Fenrir was, by all rights, Loki’s legitimate child.

 

Loki was entirely pleased with the new addition to his growing family.

 

Thor was not. Not. At. All!

 

He actually manifested thunder and lightening, for the first time, after he found out.

 

It wasn’t that he minded the addition of Fenrir, because he didn’t. He loved that pup. It was the fact that Angrboða’s was the other magically adoptive parent.

 

However, Thor refused to acknowledge her connection to their family. He even told all who would listen that it was _his_ magic that was feed to Fenrir along with Loki’s.

 

No one believed him, but it didn’t stop the proclamations.

 

Loki, who not so secretly considered himself the only parent that mattered, relished in his growing legacy, and it was becoming apparent to all—except Odin— that Loki might be a bit more _Bearer_ than Sire, and he was more fitted to be the next All Mother instead of the next All Father.

 

The second unexpected result of Fenrir’s magical meals was that he was able to shift his form into an Asgardian male.

 

Of course, the populace didn’t discover this until years later and after he bit off Tyr’s hand—because the idiot kept putting it in his mouth on a dare.

 

During that trial, Tyr’s felt that Fenrir should pay the wergild for his hand with his life, especially since the wolf purposefully spit-out the hand over the edge of the rainbow bridge.

 

When Odin asked for witnesses to speak for Fenrir, no one came forward, even though many observed the incident and agreed that the four-legged prince was well within his rights, because Tyr was being a prick.

 

The silence reigned because most Asgardians were terrified of the massive wolf, so none, besides the royal family— who were not there when the attack happened— would speak up for the furry prince.

This was when Odin made a historic decision.

 

Of course, history has distorted the events that took place, but it was true, Odin threatened the adopted prince with having a sword gouged through his mouth and being chained to Yggdrasil for all eternity, if he refused to speak in his own defense.

 

Even with that threat, Fenrir kept his canine silence.

 

It was not until Loki fell upon him and cried a “mother’s tears” into the plume of his fur did Fenrir— with utter reluctance and complete distain for what he was being forced to do— show the golden realm his ability to shape-shift, like is parent Loki.

 

Even though he was younger than Loki, he had rapidly aged in dog years before Frigga found out and put a stop to it by forcing him to eat Iðunn’s apples and shrouding him in her protective magic.

 

It was for this reason that what appeared before the court was not a baby but an unabashedly and unashamed naked young teen, who looked no more than 19-hundred years old. He had a perfectly chiseled and proportionate muscular body, with a dusting of manly chest hair and probably the most impressive balls and cock anyone had ever seen.

 

And he wasn’t even aroused!

 

Fenrir’s face was also desirable.

 

You would notice this once you were able to pull your eyes away from his godly fertility rod.

 

Fenrir’s face was a handsome work of art, with his full head of wavy black hair, cunning amber/green eyes, regal nose, strong jaw line, full heart-shaped mouth, and just the beginnings of a beard.

 

Even in Asgard, a realm filled to the brim with striking beauties, he was ridiculously attractive.

 

Immediately after the crowd got over the shock of Fenrir’s new appearance, they started begging Odin for mercy, while blaming Tyr for his provocations.  

 

“Punish Tyr!” They cried.

 

“Have mercy on _our_ beautiful Fenrir!!” They pleaded even though, just moments before, no one would speak up for him.

 

“Kill Tyr!” They demanded.

 

“I love you, Fenrir!” More than a dozen men and women proclaimed over all the other shouting for mercy, leniency and permission for a marriage union.

 

The injured Tyr could not believe how fast he lost the favor of the people, and now, no thanks to them, he even feared for his own life.

 

It took longer than it should have, but Odin, eventually, calmed everyone down long enough to divvy out his judgment.

 

Fenrir was punished, but not with having a tortuous eternity in depths of Yggdrasil. Instead, he had to remain in his Asgardian form for one thousand years.

 

However, as Fenrir threw himself upon the golden floor and kept crying out, “but I’m a wolf!… I’m a wolf!” In a surprisingly childish voice, one would have thought he’d rather have a sword through his mouth.

 

Odin, did not relent on his judgment because it was fair. Instead, he explained to his grandson— as he gestured for one of the guards to cover the pup’s nakedness from the leering populace— that it was his own fault because he had the _power_ to shift and tell Tyr to stop, but instead, he chose to bite the other man’s hand off. Which was an un-princely thing to do.

 

Tyr was punished as well, for provoking a prince of Asgard. He was now, Fenrir’s manservant. A long fall from being a former high-ranking noble and solider in the king’s army. His new duties now included being responsible for making sure Fenrir was happy and guiding Fenrir’s acceptable entrance into royal society. It was a terrible burden because Fenrir had no intentions of being anything other than a wolf.

 

Of course this particular affair happened _years_ into the future and has no bearing on present day events, particularly with how Thor brought Borr back to life in order to force his parents to relinquish some of their hold on Loki.

 

This also has nothing to do with how having Borr—Bestla’s #1 enforcer—

alive, forced Odin and Frigga to contact Laufey, which started an “almost war,” and brought another obsessive parent into the mix.

 

No… this story was…

 

Just a filler.

 

Because the author couldn’t get the story of Hel’s, Fenrir’s and Jörmungandr’s existence in this universe out of her head.

 

 

 

tbc....

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN.

 

Sorry for the delay in this chapter, and the fact that it was a filler. It didn’t start out to be (if that makes a difference).

 

 

I am a private person but I did want to explain why I dropped out of the writing scene for a while.

 

Around this time last year, I lost my mother. She wasn’t sick, it wasn’t an accident, a heart attack, or stroke. It was just her time, and she died. However, it was completely unexpected for the ones who were left.

 

Unexpected, horrible, miserable and every negative adjective in the universe.  (T_T)

 

I had to step away because I needed time to recover.

 

So I thank everyone who had not given up on this story even if you did not know why I stopped writing.

 

Oh… again, I promise you that this chapter did not start off as a filler. It had and still has purpose. I needed to introduce Hel because I needed the keys to Valhalla. However, after I learned more about Hel, specifically her hound Garmr, Fenrir demanded his intro into this universe as well. (A chapter earlier than I intended but oh well).

 

This story has about two more chapters. I hope to see you at the end of it.

Again, thank you for all of your support for this story over the past year and even before. 

Hugs

Babychan

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you are enjoying this fic as much as I am writing it. ^__^
> 
> It’s a continuation of For Thee Who is Most Worthy, even though that was only supposed to be One Shot.
> 
> But I really like this Universe because everyone really loves each other and Loki is especially cherished ( he’s my woobi) and Loki’s only rival is Sif but their battles are childish and funny to me. So please don’t hate on this Sif. She is a brat but she means no real harm.
> 
> I will have the next chapter up soon.  
> I hope you read it. ^_^
> 
> hugs  
> babychan


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